Cirque Du Freak: Remake
by Edoquin Dissital
Summary: Darren chases himself away but ends up encountering the Cirque again on a family trip to Florida where yet again, he tries to Steal Octa, this time Evra is the one who get's the bad end of the stick. This was on my old account. Yaoi in future Chp. Pls RVU
1. Chapter 1

Cirque Du Freak: Fanfic

Change in plot.

The Joker by Steve Miller

Author's note: Okay, so I was basically trying to figure out what would happen if Darren had gone back in time and chased himself away, but ended up seeing the Cirque on a family trip to Florida and everything was different? What would happen if he ended up stealing Madame Octa and Evra caught him? What if everything was different?

Warning: Has strong attraction to gays and the plot isn't fully the same. Same Destiny, different events.

Chapter 1: Cirque Du Freak

I ran from the theatre looking back every now and again to see if that thing was still after me. I stopped in the streets and tugged on my hair gasping. Steve was still in there. He was going to get eaten! I contemplated whether or not I should go back in there and get him, but when I saw a dark shadow emerge from the door way, I booked it. I didn't want to get into trouble with a man who could replace arms.

I ran through back yards to get to my house. I wasn't expecting my parents to be awake. I stopped on the side walk as I saw all of the lights in the house were on. I was in deep crap. Wiping the tears from my eyes I caught my breath and walked in through the door. They were sleeping when I left, but apparently they had gotten this thing into their mind to check up on me or something. It was useless to try and avoid it now. I was grounded big time.

Shutting the door behind me, I gazed upon the furious faces of parents. They stood with their hands on their hips as they glared me down. I slinked away from them as if I could escape their glares.

"Where did you go young man!" My father yelled. I held my hands up.

"Ssh, isn't Annie still sleeping?" I asked, whispering. His face turned red from anger.

"I don't want any crap from you! Where were you?" he snarled, more quietly now. I had to think up a lie. I don't think they'd really appreciate it if I told them I went to a freak show.

"I forgot something at Steve's and I didn't remember it until I had a dream about it ok? I ran over to get it." I shrugged my shoulders and headed upstairs. They both fled to the bottom of the stairs and crossed their arms.

"Where is it?" My mother snorted. I turned around and looked at her confused.

"Where's what?" I asked her dully. She snarled, "The thing you forgot young man!" I pulled away from the venom. She was worse than the wolf man when she was angry. "Steve wasn't awake, I have to go over and get it in the morning." I replied. Turning back I made my way up the stairs. Hopefully she wasn't going to stop me again. Of course, she wasn't the one who was pressed to keep my little interrogation going. It was my father.

"What did you leave over there that was so important?" He questioned for her, his arms crossed just like hers. I stopped again and turned round, thinking.

"Huh?" I asked again, dully. His face was starting to get red from anger.

"I said, What did you leave over there that was so important?" He questioned again. I sighed.

"I forgot my Soccer Cleats over at Steve's house when I went over there yesterday. I originally went over there today to pick them up, but then he ended up playing Resident Evil and I ended up watching and talking about spiders, then when I came home, I had forgotten about them, so I'm going to have to run over on my way to school tomorrow and pick them up for when we have Gym." I explained. I hadn't used this excuse before, but it sounded believable to me. I mean, I was a kid, I deserved to forget things like that once in a while. If I didn't, then I wouldn't be an actual kid. I'd be some, preppy zoned out, perfect, snotty little goodie-two-shoes who would be afraid to get his elbows dirty and his knees skinned. And trust me, I loved to get my elbow's dirty.

They looked at each other for a moment. I prayed to god that they'd believe me, and wouldn't call Steve's mom. Sighing, my mother shook her head and looked at me. She wasn't as mad as before, but I could tell she was still pretty steamed.

"Alright, tomorrow you make sure you get those shoes. You have a game tomorrow that you can't afford to miss." She replied. Smiling I nodded my head and ran the rest of the way up the stairs. Thank God in heaven she believed me. Hollering up the stairs once I hit the top step she said, "Now I don't want you missing school just because you got to bed so late, you hear me!" She shouted.

"Alright mom, dad, Good night!" I hollered back down running to my room. I shut the door before they could return their goodnights. Leaning against it once it latched, I sighed a breath of relief. That was too close. I could tell they weren't going to believe it, but they had to. It was such a likely excuse that was so believable. Boy forgets something, boy goes over to get it, ends up watching video games and talking about hobbies, boy comes home empty handed, boy tries to go back over once parents are asleep and fails at getting said something. It was all very believable.

I walked forward and wondered what it would have been like if I told them the truth. "Yeah mom, dad, I was out watching a freak show with a killer wolf man, a guy who could eat glass and other random stuff, and a snake boy with long blonde, green, blue, red hair." Yeah, that would go over well like a fart in church. I chuckled as I imagined the look on my mothers face once I told her the truth.

"Didn't I tell you that those Freak shows were a cruel, act of indecency and in-humanity! Those people don't deserve to be locked in cages and starved to death!" I snorted as I grabbed the bottom of my shirt and slid it off as I thought of what I'd say.

"I'm sorry to say this mom, but the snake boy or anyone else in that freak show didn't look Malnourished. Especially not the snake boy." When I'd seen the snake boy, his body was slender, yes, but there were parts on him that were signs of him being well fed, like his legs. Even though they were pretty scrawny looking, they were muscular, but still had some fat on them, and his thighs and waist. He didn't look like he was starved at all. Looking over at my desk I saw that my parents had left the cordless phone in here.

Walking over to it after stripping to my boxers, I crawled into bed and grabbed the phone. I dialed Steve's number, then shut my light off before turning it on. I was probably going to get his mom, and I was probably going to do something stupid like get him in trouble, but I was saved when he picked up, pretending to sound tired.

"Hello?" He asked faking a yawn. I could hear that it was fake, but any sort of yawn made me yawn.

"Thanks butt head." I whispered into the phone, getting comfortable under the sheets.

"Darren?" He asked, not sounding tired anymore.

"Who'd you think you were talking to? The president?" I chuckled lightly and pulled my blankets down around my waist. He snorted.

"Darren, why are you calling me?" He asked, the sound of his shoes hitting the floor. I could tell that he had snuck in through his window and had ripped off his shirt and stuff to get into bed just incase his mom came up to see who it was who was calling.

"I got home and my parents were awake." I replied. I looked out the window above the head of my bed and thought about everything. The Cirque performers, the Twins, Rhamus TwoBellies, The Wolf Man, The Snake boy, and my most favorite act. The Performing deadly Tarantula, Madame Octa. I could hear Steve groan with apology on the other side.

"You grounded?" He asked, sounding sorry. This was the first time I'd ever heard Steve sound this sorry.

"No, I told them that I had gone over to your house because I left my cleats at your place and couldn't remember until I had a dream about them. They believed it, just barely though." I rolled over so that I was looking out the window fully. In the streets, I saw someone out in the middle of the road in a dark cloak. I squinted against the glare of the street lights. The figure was looking away from my house then, in a moment, it was gone.

"Darren? Darren!" Steve hollered at me on the phone. I jumped.

"What?" I hissed back. He sat there silent for a few moments in silence then whispered into the phone.

"You didn't hear a word I said, did you?" He growled. I sighed.

"No." I replied dragging my hands across my face, rolling onto my back. He laughed.

"Did a naked chick walk by?" He boomed on the other side of the phone. With my hand over my face I muttered through my hand, "something like that." he laughed. "It was a guy wasn't it." I rolled my eyes as I stared at the darkness on my ceiling. "Anyway, I said 'When I got home my mom was sound asleep, but you know how creaky my stairs are, so I decided to crawl through the window instead. I had just gotten in when you called so it was a good thing you didn't call any sooner than that." I sighed and shook my head. I can't believe that he'd gotten out of that theatre so fast, and tone in his voice made him sound...slightly angry.

"I'm sorry for calling you." I apologized. He laughed, the sound of his bed squeaking in the background.

"Don't be sorry! Anyway. What did you think of that Freak show? It was awesome wasn't it?" He boomed. I laughed quietly. I didn't want to run the risk of my parents hearing me on the phone, though I'm sure they already knew.

"It was great Steve. Thanks for bringing me." He snorted.

"Don't thank me, you're the one who grabbed the damn ticket." I laughed again. I remember the feeling I had when I closed my eyes and caught the ticket. It felt so...like I was supposed to have it. And the midget thing who chased me away from spying on Steve. It felt like I knew who it was or something like that. It felt so familiar somehow.

"Steve, what was your favorite part of the show?" I asked. Steve sighed.

"Man, you're asking me to choose one?" He complained. I rolled my eyes.

"Fine then, choose two." I snorted. He laughed.

"Well, I liked all of it, but my first favorite would have to have been the Wolfman and the guy who can put limbs back on. That was freaking awesome. And my second favorite, I'd have to say would be the Snake boy. He was so freaky looking. But at the same time, if I was a girl, I'd say he was hot." I heard his bed squeak again. I cocked an eyebrow.

"I don't care if you say, 'if I was a girl' or not, thinking a guy is hot while you are a guy is considered gay." I laughed. He laughed in return.

"Well Mr. Perfect, what were you're two favorite parts of that show?" He asked, small sections of sarcasm rimming his question. I smiled.

"That's a stupid question. I liked the Tarantula and the Snake boy." I returned proudly. Steve snorted.

"Of course you like the damn spider, but why do you like the Snake boy?" He asked. I pulled my blankets up around my neck after itching my hip and rolled over so that the phone was in the pillow.

"Because he had a snake! Did you see how well he had that thing trained? It could have lunged out and bit someone's face off, but instead it stayed by its 'hot' master." I teased. Steve let off a mocking laugh. I could tell he wasn't pleased with that one.

"Yeah right, you thought he was hot too." He joked. I shook my head, laughing.

"Nu uh. He looked more like a chick than a guy if you ask me. I mean, sure he was a snake boy, but shouldn't snake boy's be bald? His hair was almost down to his butt dude." Steve laughed.

"No it wasn't you liar. It was down to the middle of his back." He boomed. I laughed.

"I said almost, you schmuck!" I retorted. We fell silent. I'm pretty sure he was thinking of the events that happened tonight. I mean, we snuck out, went to see a freak show, almost got caught. Well, I did. "Steve?" I questioned into the phone.

"Yeah?" He said, sounding almost tired.

"Why didn't you say you liked the performance with the spider? I mean, the way you acted when you saw the guy who was controlling her..." I stopped. He was quiet. He sighed.

"That guy just looked familiar, that's all. That's the only reason I acted that way when I saw him. There was no other reason." He muttered. I didn't say anything else. I stared up at the ceiling and tried to place the pieces together. Someone he knew? Looked like someone he knew. Was there really someone so ugly that belonged on the streets? Maybe it was someone from an old Dracula film that Steve noticed?

Clearing his throat on the opposite side of the phone, Steve sighed.

"Dude, I'm going to let you go. I'm zonked." He mumbled into the phone. I could hear the bed squeak as he rolled over and adjusted himself.

"Alright, but we have to talk about it more in the morning." I replied. Laughing quietly, Steve cleared his throat.

"Alright dude, I guess we can talk about it in the morning. You want me to come pick you up before school?" he asked. I didn't say anything. "Darren?" I fought back a chuckle. "Darren?" He repeated. Each time making me have to laugh harder. "Darren!" he hollered finally. I cleared my throat, a huge smile on my face.

"I'm sorry what? I was thinking about how hot the snake boy was." I repeated, fighting back from busting out to loudly. Snorting, Steve growled in return.

"Bye!" Clicking the phone off, I laughed into my pillow. I was so mean to him sometimes, especially now that he had given me some good black mail to hit him with. Putting the phone on my end stand, I yawned. Before I knew it, I was asleep, dreaming about the cirque, and Madame Octa.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: New Student.

I woke up later than I had originally intended to –I had wanted to get up at 5 but my alarm didn't go off until 7:30. It was odd, though. I always thought the little buzzing noise was supposed to go off when the little numbers on the screen thing hit the time you set it for, not two and a half hours later!

Quickly I swung my legs over the side of the bed and hopped out, not bothering to make it. I grabbed the first outfit I could get my hands on –which so happened to be the one I wore out last night- and dashed down the stairs and out the door without confrontation. At least, that's what my plan had been.

"Darren!" My mom called to me the moment I opened the door and placed a foot out. I sighed. My luck was awful today.

"Yeah mom?" I questioned, not sounding enthusiastic at all.

"Aren't you going to eat breakfast? You have a big game today." She called to me from the kitchen.

"no mom, I'm not going to eat breakfast." I hollered back.

"But you need your energy." She insisted. I knew she wasn't going to let it drop. Sighing I stepped back in and shut the door, muttering to myself.

"I need a lot of things but you don't see me getting those anytime soon." I walked into the kitchen. My mother glared at me.

"What was that young man?" She shot. I felt my heart skp a beat as I continued to look at the floor, trying my hardest not to look her in the eyes.

"I said I'm not that hungry so maybe a slice of toast and a little juice." I lied. I couldn't just talk back to my mom like Steve could. I wasn't that gutsy, and my mom would tear me in two. She smiled and threw in some toast. Annie smiled at me. She knew that I had gone out last night. Or at least she knew where I had really gone out, and I had managed to get some souvenirs for her too, I'd just have to give them to her either in school or after school.

"How did you sleep Darren?" She asked, taking a bite of toast. She didn't know that I was caught coming back in. I sighed.

"He didn't sleep." Dad said, just as I was about to say fine. I flinched. She looked at dad with a confused expression.

"He didn't? Did he get to stay up past his bed time when I had to sleep?" She questioned. Dad shook his head.

"No, he had dashed off over to Leonard's last night to get his shoes and didn't get back in until two in the morning." He took a drink of his coffee. I saw the confusion clear up in her eyes as she smiled and looked at me.

"You're such an airhead Dar." She giggled. I smiled a mocking smile, but I was actually happy. She knew enough to get a hold of the story before blabbing her big mouth off. Turning my mom handed me four slices of toast, an orange and a glass of orange juice. Grabbing the glass I chugged it and headed for the door.

"Aren't you going enjoy your toast?" My mom hollered after me as I grabbed for the doorknob.

"I'll eat it on the way to school! I'm late mom!" I hollered.

"Wait!" She hollered. I stopped and rolled my eyes, turning around. Running up to me she shoved an envelope into my jeans pocket and handed me a twenty dollar bill. I looked at it confused.

"What's that for?" I questioned. She smiled.

"Get yourself something sweet at the store after school or an energy drink for the game." She winked at me. I smiled and nodded once, then turned around and scrambled out the door. Leaping over the steps, I continued running the moment my feet touched the sidewalk. I made sure to ditch the toast in one of our neighbors' yard a little way down the street, making sure it was out of moms view. I knew one of the neighborhood dogs would eat it later. I was just about to stash the orange when I rounded a corner, go too fast to see what was around it. I ran into something hard, my face colliding with whatever it was, my nose cracking.

I fell backwards, my head smashing off of the sidewalk, my vision turning red for a split second, the silence. I grunted and lightly rotated my head, my neck killing me, my nose numb. Who the heck was stupid enough to park a truck on the sidewalk! I screamed in my head. Groaning I pushed myself up and rubbed my head, hot liquid trickling down my lip. I cursed and held my hand under my face. I looked up to see that it wasn't an inanimate object I had run into, but instead a young girl. My eyes grew wide as I reached forward with my none messy hand and grabbed her, pulling her to a sitting position. She moaned, her voice deep as she rubbed her face.

"I'm sorry." I squealed, trying not to get blood in my mouth. She shook her head, then finally looked at me. She gasped and reached forward, sticking her fingers to my upper lip.

"Oh my god! You're bleeding! Are you alright? I'm so sorry." She squealed trying to wipe away the blood. I nodded, keeping my lips shut tightly as it dribbled down my chin. She made a panicked face as she kept wiping and wiping away. "Tip your head back really quick but don't leave it like that!" She barked. I listened to her. I heard a zip then felt a piece of tissue paper around the bottom of my nose. "Tip your head down now." She instructed me. I followed her instructions and looked at her. She smiled at me, her eyes a beautiful hazel color, almost yellow. That's when I noticed the details.

She had long black hair and pale, single toned skin that seemed so perfectly smooth except for a few spots where it looked like it was dried out, but it was nothing a little lotion could take care of. Her face was longer than most girls I've seen, and her nose was slightly flat, but she was beautiful. Her lips were thin as she smiled, and her speech was affected by extra sharp S's.

"I'm sorry." I whispered again, mesmerized by her beauty. She smiled and shook her head.

"I almost broke your nose and you're the one saying sorry? Wow, that's weird." She giggled, standing. Holding out her hand to me she smiled. I just couldn't get over how deep her voice was. It wasn't terribly manly, but it was manlier than any girl I've ever met.

"I'm sorry." I whispered once more as I grabbed her hand and pushed myself to my feet. I saw that she was wearing a pair of shorts and a long, dark green sweater. She smiled and held onto my hand. I just looked down at it, then back up at her, my cheeks turning hot.

"Well, are you going to tell me your name or am I going to have to guess it? Trust me, I know a lot of names because of all the places I been, so we might be here a while." She winked. My face flushed completely as I shook her hand and chuckled slightly.

"My name is Darren Shan, the boy who needs to slow down while running around corners so he doesn't run into anymore people." I replied. She giggled and shook my hand back with extra emphasis.

"And my name is Evan Marcus, the silly boy who can't find the school." She replied. Wait! He? Boy? I had been thinking a boy was beautiful? I shuttered and pulled away. He looked at me confused as I giggled nervously and itched the back of my head.

"Um…he? Are-are you sure you're a boy?" I chuckled, not trying to sound like I was aiming to hurt his feelings. His face warped to a hurt expression as he looked down at the ground and forced a smiled.

"Y-yeah, kind of hard to tell the difference huh?" He questioned. Oh great Darren, now you hurt his feelings! I shook my head, needing to force a smile myself.

"No it's just…" I paused and looked at him. It was everything. Everything about him looked feminine. His legs were slender, and bare, and his waist was narrow, and his curves –or what I could see of them through his baggy sweater- were really…girlish. But I had to point out one thing that wouldn't offend him that I could say threw me off. "The hair, its so long it makes you look like a girl." He looked up at me confused. I needed to say more. "Hey I'd probably look like a girl with hair as long as yours." I added. He smiled and laughed.

"So my hair makes me look pretty huh?" he winked. I felt my cheeks turn hot. Why did he look so much like a girl. I shook my head.

"Not pretty just…like a girl." I added. He laughed harder and shook his head. He stopped and looked backwards. I pulled the tissue away from my nose and saw that I had stopped bleeding.

"So you finally stopped bleeding huh?" He questioned. I looked up and saw that he was smiling at me, his eyes narrow eyes glistening. I nodded. He smiled. "Good. Are you heading to school?" He questioned again. I nodded.

"Darren!" A voice called behind me. I turned around to see Steve running up the street.

"Who's that?" Evan asked, looking at Steve.

"My friend Steve." I said simply and waved. He ran up next to us and stopped.

"Hey Darren, didn't I tell you to wait for me?" He questioned, chuckling lightly. I was about to answer when he looked at Evan. "Who's the girl?" He asked, his eyes skimming up and down Evan's body. Evan went stiff slightly, his eyebrows slightly furrowing, but he kept his smiled.

"My name is Evan; I'm new to the school." He held his hand out, his lips almost an invisible line, that's how thin his lips were. Steve nodded, but didn't take his hand.

"So ugh, why you hanging out with a fag?" Steve questioned, looking at me. My jaw dropped. Evan dropped his hand shook his head.

"I'm not a fag." He replied. Steve looked at him and nodded.

"Yeah you are. And just to let you know, Darren hates fags so you might as well turn around and walk the other way." He swished his hand, dismissing him then turned back to me for an answer as anger clouded Evan's once brilliantly shimmering green eyes.

"I'm not a fag!" He snapped. Steve didn't like that. Whirling around he turned on him and snapped back.

"Well you look like one so back off!" Steve snarled. I could tell Evan wanted to say something else, but he was smart enough to hold his tongue. Turning around he grabbed the messenger bag in which I guess he had carried all of the tissues in and walked away, his fists remaining closed. Steve laughed. "So, why didn't you wait?" he asked, a smile on his face as if he hadn't just totally hurt someone's feelings. I shook my head and looked away, scowling.

"You're such a child." I muttered. I guess it must have broken Steve's final nerve. He stepped forward and grabbed my shoulder, slamming me against the nearest telephone pole.

"Why are you acting like a pansy!" He growled in my face.

"Because Steve! Because you were just mean to someone new! To someone who needed someone to talk to and show them the way! But that's not all you did Steve! You lied to him for me! You lied to about me! Do you realize what that makes me look like!" I slapped his hand away from me, fixing my shirt. "That makes me look like a homophobic jerk! And I'm not ok? So what if he was gay, if he even was gay! He was still nice!" I screamed. He glared at me, his bottom lip curling up, his eyes hidden in the shadow of his eyebrows. I knew I shouldn't have done that. I shook my head and turned the other way, walking down the sidewalk. Steve hesitated. I stopped and turned around, glaring at him. "Come on, we have to go to school, jerk." I muttered. He clenched his fist and started wailing on the telephone pole. He kept punching it until his knuckles bled. My heart was racing. I had made him that mad!

He walked by me, heading down the sidewalk. I followed right behind him, saying nothing. I didn't dare to, not when Steve was so angry. I just hope he'd cool off by lunch time at least.

CDF

I tapped a pencil against the desk in math class, waiting for it to start when I noticed something was different. The other kids were restless, the girl chatting rapidly, the boys making stupid sound effects. I looked up to the front of the class and noticed that a substitute was here, talking to someone in the door way. So that's why everyone was so restless, a substitute.

"Alright class, sit down." She announced, walking back to the teachers desk. Everyone scrambled for their seats, but they didn't stop talking. "Today we have a new student in this class, and I'm not sure what he usually does when you get new students, but we'll have him introduce himself." She looked at the door and nodded. I sat forward in my seat, my eyes wide as the long hair boy walked in. His face was stern, more manly than before, he didn't smile. "Alright just write your name on the board and tell us about yourself." She instructed for him. He nodded and turned around, grabbing a marker. He wrote his name on the board and turned to face us.

"My name is Evan Marcus, I live in a crappy mobile home, I travel the world with my father, I was home schooled before this, my father wants me to spend at least one semester in a normal school and that's my life in a nutshell." He muttered. "Everyone go nuts." He walked by her and to the only open seat left. The one right next to mine. I felt my heart leap as he sat down, the substitute carrying on to start the lesson.

"Hey," I whispered, leaning over to get his attention. He looked at me, he didn't seem too happy.

"I thought you hated gays? And apparently seeing how I'm gay according to your friend then should you not be talking to me?" He questioned with venom. I flinched at the tone of his voice and shook my head.

"Don't listen to anything Steve says, he's just being a moody butt head today. Probably didn't get too much sleep last night. What classes do you have next?" I asked. He smiled slightly and pulled out a neatly folded piece of paper from his messenger bag and handed it to me.

"This is my schedule; match it up if it floats your boat." He chuckled. I smiled and opened the piece of paper, looking at it. He had most of the same classes with me. Gym, social, science, Spanish, math, both study halls. I smiled and handed him his schedule back.

"You have almost every class with me." I whispered. He smiled lipped the words awesome, his nose crinkling a bit.

"Does he have any of the same classes as me and you?" He asked, tucking his schedule into his shorts pocket. I nodded.

"Only Social and he sits way in the front." I replied. He smiled and gave me a thumbs up.

"Hopefully I get a seat next to you in every class." He chuckled lightly. "I don't want to sit next to him or else I'll get wicked ticked off and try to punch him in the face." He grumbled. I shook my head.

"Don't try to pick a fight with Steve, he's one of the strongest kids in school and a ferocious fighter, he'll rip your legs off and beat you with them." I warned him, copying down the notes on the board.

"Did you hear me say try. I never said I'd succeed." He laughed slightly I snickered and shook my head. We spoke the rest of the class and moved on to our other classes. We spoke mainly about the things we liked. I told him about my spider fascination and he told me about how he loved snakes and spiders and thing like iguanas.

"I always wanted a Komodo Dragon." He replied, following me down the stairs to the cafeteria.

"Why a Komodo dragon? Those things are huge and dangerous." I replied. He laughed.

"But they're so awesome. All of those scales and like…the teeth. Oh my god I love the teeth." He laughed. I stopped as Steve and Alan came around the corner at the bottom of the stairs. He stopped and smiled at me, but the smile faded once he saw Evan.

"Hey Dar bear, hey fag." He forced a smile. Evan smiled back.

"Hey kitten." He replied. I had told him about our nickname for Steve, calling him Steve Leopard instead of Leonard. I wasn't sure how this was going to go down.

"Block any back entrances lately?" Steve threw at him acidically. Evan smiled.

"Only your moms." My jaw dropped. Steve lashed out at him and punched him in the face, tackling him to the stairs. I jumped back, trying not to become a member in the brawl. I didn't know who was winning until I saw Steve go flying back, falling down the rest of the stairs. Evan jumped off of the steps he was on and landed on him, punching him repeatedly in the back of the head. I rushed forward and grabbed Evan as Alan grabbed Steve and held him back.

"I'll kill you!" Steve hissed.

"I'd like to see you try it!" Evan hissed back, his voice sounding like a reptiles. Steve struggled against Alan's grasp as Evan threw a couple punches in his direction.

"Stop it both of you! You're both acting like babies!" I screamed, shoving Evan against the wall. He looked at me confused as I slammed my knee in between his legs, keeping him pinned in his spot. "Stop." I stared deep into Evans green eyes. They looked familiar. He looked away form me and pushed me away.

"I don't have to put up with this." He growled and turned around, walking back up the stairs towards the office. I sighed as I shook my head and looked back over my shoulder at Steve.

"Why can't you just accept him?" I questioned. Steve pulled away from Alan.

"I don't like the kid, he reminds me of a fruit loop." He grunted, fixing his shirt, wiping blood from his bottom lip.

"He lives with his father, traveling the world, and was home schooled, Steve, of course he isn't going to act like me and you." I walked by him and to the table. Hopefully this foolish behavior between the two of them wouldn't keep up, cause I was afraid that one of these days, I was going to get the crap kicked out of me for defending Evan. And I had a feeling –judging by the way Steve shot me down with his gaze- it was going to be soon.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

A few weeks roll by. I'd been spending a lot more time getting to know Evan a lot better. I found out that his father was into animals. He traveled all over the world researching them. The species, and their behaviors. Also, with the animals he was assigned to research they were able to travel about the world. Evan told me that he'd been to China to research and rescue a Bengal Tiger. He'd spent a whole three months there, rescuing it from abusers and researching it's behaviors.

Because of his travels, he hadn't gone through any schooling save for home schooling and said that if there was any chance, he would ask his father if I could go with them for a little while on their next assignment. But when I asked him where it was they were going next, he just simply replied that he didn't know, and that his father wouldn't know until he received a call from someone who needed his help. Evan was hoping that maybe his father wouldn't be needed until he spent a semester in our school.

Evan and I had began to get pretty close, but Steve was a different story. Steve no longer made threats, but he didn't exactly rush to hold Evan's hand either. He stayed at a pretty good distance from the pretty boy.

8th period Gym class was pretty much the change of that though. We were playing volleyball. Steve was on my team along with Alan and a few other kids. Evan sat on the bleachers and watched as Steven ran back and forth across the floor, smashing the ball into the ground at the other teams feet, every point we received was signaled by a loud hooting cheer.

"Hey Evan, why don't you play?" Alan hollered, looking back at the long haired boy who was in his gym clothes, but not participating, like usual. The teacher allowed him seeing how he'd never been in contact with many sports and was allowed to take a few days of observation before attempting the units.

"No thank you." Evan hollered back, his hair pulled back into a messy bun-ish ponytail. He was wearing an extra large, long black t-shirt and a pair of short, short green shorts. He didn't wear a whole lot of pants I noticed. Perhaps he was used to hotter weather, therefore only owned mainly shorts? It was a possibility.

"Why not?" Alan pressed as the kids broke out in aws that made a smile stretch across Evan's face.

"Because he doesn't want to get his butt whooped." Steve sneered, his first words regarding a subject that involved the boy at all. But all Evan did was smile and nod, pointing at Steve.

"Exactly." The gym laughed.

"We'll go easy on you," Alan promised, holding the ball under his arm, his closed fist resting on his hip.

"That sounds dirty." Evan smiled, the tip of his tongue pushed in between his teeth. Everyone laughed again, Alan the hardest this time.

"Please Evan?" I pleaded this time. He looked at me with a cocked eyebrow.

"I don't even know how to play!" He threw his hands in the air.

"We'll teach you!" I mocked him, throwing my hands in the air as well. He laughed and shook his head. I wasn't sure if that was a yes or a no, but as he pressed his knuckles into the bleachers, he pushed himself off and landed softly on his feet.

"Fine, but if I end up pregnant I'll be purely confused." He replied. I laughed and squinted at him, wondering how the hell that fit into our topic, then I recalled him commenting on Alan's words we'll go easy on you and snorted. Reaching behind him he fixed his shorts and walked over to us. Automatically Steve went and joined the other side, giving Evan a nasty growl as he crossed under the net. Evan cocked an eyebrow and snorted. "Calm down cougar boy, it's not like I'm stealing your spots." He made both an kitten and leopard pun that made Steve flip him off. But all Evan did was smile.

"Alright fruit cake the rules are the back right hand person serves when it is that sides turn. It must make it over the net on the serve. If the ball falls short of the net, no one can help it over. If it makes it over the net and hit's the floor the serving team gets the ball and a point. If the ball is hit when it makes it over it's called a volley. When the opposite team hits it back and it lands on the serving teams floor a point goes to the other team and the opposite team gets the ball. Also, the teams rotate clockwise to change the order and server for the next serve." He stared at Evan through narrow eyes and gave him a bitter smirk. "You got all of that fairy boy?" He sneered. "Or do I have to get naked and tattoo it on my butt?" Evan smiled and laughed.

"Well, I highly doubt your butt is big enough to tattoo all of the rules on it, plus, by the time you get a hold of the money and find a professional to do the tattooing, it'll be time to go home." we laughed, causing Steve to shoot us death glares. "So yeah, clear as mud, serve the ball Cat Boy." Evan crouched a bit, rubbing his hands together. Steve muttered a curse word under his breath.

"I hope you realize I'm going to whomp you!" Steve hollered as Alan tossed him the ball. Evan laughed.

"I'm good at jumping, so try me." Steve growled.

"I'll dominate you!" He screeched. This was getting personal, and it was pissing him off that Evan was taking this as a joke.

"Ok, just don't make me bump my elbows, I don't want my dad to know I let you force me down." He insulted both himself and Steve. The confused expression on Steve's face got all of us laughing, Evan included.

"What?" Steve stood a bit.

"Bump my elbows? Off of the floor? Must I demonstrate?" It hit him. Steve growled like an angry wild cat and served the ball, sending it rocketing over the top of the fence, right towards Evan. It was going so fast that I could barely keep my eyes on it. That type of ball could kill Evan!

"Evan!" I hollered as a warning, but all he did was smirk. Crouching, he launched himself up and smashed the ball as hard as he could, knocking it towards the opponent teams feet. We all just stood there in awe as it skidded across the floor and smashed into the bleachers on the other side of the room.

"Yay!" He started jumping up and down, cheering. His hands were over his head, clenched into fists as he celebrated. "Uh huh! I did it," He started dancing the goofiest looking dance I'd ever seen…it was worse than my moms.

"What the hell are you doing!" Steve snarled, stomping towards the net. Evan stopped suddenly, wobbling a bit as if he were drunk or losing his balance.

"Burning calories so I'm not longer fat, why?" He looked at Steve with large eyes. Everyone was silent, staring at the long haired boy as if he were an idiot. Steve lips quivered as his eyebrows furrowed.

"You're…the most retarded person…in the world." He tried to say with anger, but lost to laughter. "You're an idiot! Stupid! Dumbass!"

"Eh," Evan put his hand up and looked away as if he were defended. "I know what you're going to say next." Steve smiled.

"Oh yeah? What?" Evan dropped his hand and smiled.

"Gay." Steve laughed harder.

"And you can read minds. Congratulations, you were promoted from being a fag to Queer Man." Steve cackled nastily.

"So you were beaten by Queer Man huh?" Evan countered. "Oh, hold on, a dumbass Queer Man." Steve grimaced, glaring at him seriously now.

"Oh, that was just a lucky shot. This is where I grind you into the floor." He warned Evan. I smiled.

"I don't know Steve, he did hit one of your fast ones. He's got skill." He glared at me and snorted.

"Oh, so he hit one of my balls. It doesn't mean I'm going to mess my pants whenever I'm in his presence." He growled.

"Jesus, I hope not." Evan commented, his eyes wide. "That would make me feel like crap!" We all laughed. Snorting Steve grabbed the ball and tossed it at me.

"Just serve the ball." I nodded. Readying my stance, I tossed the ball up and pounded it, sending it up and over the net. It went over everyone's heads and straight towards Emma Wilson, the only girl in our gym class. She just watched it fall to the ground even though it was perfect for her. Steve ran over to her and threw his arms out, yelling in her face. "You could have hit that Emma! That's what you do in Volleyball you useless woman!" She pulled away from him and looked at him as if she were going to cry. "You might as well not even be here! You're only in the way!"

"Hey Leonard!" Evan hollered, his eyebrows furrowed. Steve whirled around and glared at him. "how about you stop blaming people and realize that maybe she isn't helping you because you're a jerk!" He looked angry. Peeved. His forehead was wrinkled. Steve grinned evilly at him and turned back to Emma. Lashing out he shoved her back, causing her to trip over a book bag that was off to the side and hit her head off of the bleachers.

"Steve stop it!" I hollered, but there was already someone there telling him that same thing. I gasped and looked to where Evan had been and saw that he was no longer there. Squeaking sounded as their sneakers scuffed up the gym floor. Evan had Steve by the sleeves. Steve had Evan by the front of the shirt. He snapped his leg out and kicked Steven in the gut, sending him to the floor, but Steve didn't go down alone. He pulled the long haired boy down and pinned him to the floor and punched him in the face.

"Boys! Hey knock it off!" The gym teacher ran across the room and grabbed Evan and Steve. "Enough!" She hollered. Evan listened to her, but Steve continued to throw punches in his direction. She'd been out of the room for the beginning of the fight, so she didn't know who started it. "Who started this fight?" She snarled, holding Steve by the back of the shirt.

"That long haired fag did it!" Steve snarled.

"Oh yeah right! I started it you blockhead!" Evan hollered back, half of his face wet with blood. She turned around and looked to us for an answer. None of use answered, except for one sobbing voice.

"Steve did." Steve whirled around to face Emma who was crying on the floor, her long blonde hair red with blood.

"oh my god!" The teacher ran to her side and checked the back of her head. "What happened?" She questioned, looking Emma in the face.

"We were playing and I didn't hit the ball when it was hit in my direction so Steve started yelling at me calling me good for nothing and said I might as well not even be here and Evan told him to stop it so Steve shoved me back and I hit my head and Evan came over to stop him from attacking me anymore and Steve punched him in the face so they started fighting." She broke out in more tears.

"Tomorrow at the beginning of the day go to the office, both of you." She instructed. Steve snorted and started to walk away as the rest of us headed towards the locker room to change. Evan eventually followed us, saying he was sorry to Emma and the teacher.

Inside the locker room Evan separated himself from the rest of us and washed his face. He came out a few minutes later, his face looking as if he wasn't beaten at all while Steve had a bloody nose and a cut on his eyebrow. Walking over to me, Evan opened his locker and pulled out his pants and his t-shirt and began to strip. Steve glared at him the whole time, stopping his changing just for that purpose.

"You can stop glaring at me, it was your fault." Evan replied nonchalantly, sliding his slender hairless legs into his pant legs.

"You have a lot of guts." Steve growled.

"What makes you say that?" Evan questioned, still not looking at him as he pulled his jeans up and over his boxer clothed bottom.

"You get into a fist fight with me and show up in a place the teacher can't come into to save you if another fight broke out." Evan just sighed and rolled his eyes.

"I know that even you're not that immature to do that." He finally looked up at Steve. Steve's expression was blank as they both just stared at each other. It was awkward, watching them gaze into each other's eyes like that, especially seeing how Evan's was so feminine. Finally Steve smiled.

"I like that." Evan cocked an eyebrow and just held his shirt in his hands.

"like what?" he questioned, sounding defensive.

"I like your guts." Evan laughed. The tension in the room lifted. I smiled back.

"So do I, they let me know ahead of time before I throw up." Evan replied, being a smart-alec. Steve laughed and let his pants drop to the floor. Now it was getting awkward. Evan looked at him shocked as he pulled his shirt off and tossed it into his locker. I pulled my pants down as well, the moment they hit my knees Evan's eye shot to me. "Uh, can I ask a question?" Evan looked back at Steve, his voice sounding as if he were being violated.

"Sure, what's up fruit cup?" Steve chortled. Evan rubbed his forehead lightly and looked at his hand.

"Uh, if you claim that I'm gay, why do you feel so comfortable getting naked in front of me?" Evan snickered. Steve laughed and pushed his hand down his stomach in a teasing manner. Even I felt my cheeks go hot at that gesture.

"If you tried to touch me I'd kick your butt so hard you'd leave green streaks down the hallway." Steve laughed. I didn't understand what he just said, but Evan gave him a quick worried expression, then covered it up with a smile.

"heh, that might just end up happening if I tripped." He hid his face with his hair. I slid my jeans on and changed my shirts as Steve teased Evan half naked. "Why don't you just get dressed and stop flirting with me." Evan grumbled. Steve laughed.

"Aww but you're so cute!" He taunted, his comment full of sarcasm.

"And you call me gay." Evan stuck his tongue out at Steve. Steve returned it and slid his pants and shirt on.

"What are you doing after school today?" he questioned, zipping up his pants, clicking the button shut.

"Who? Me?" Evan pointed at himself.

"No, your imaginary friend." Steven snorted. Evan turned around and shrugged his shoulders.

"He said he was going to be talking crap about you all day like he does everyday." Evan joked back. Steve laughed. "No, but I don't know what I'm doing after school today. Probably just rotting inside my house all day like I do everyday." He itched his head. Steven nodded.

"So I take it you're free?" He smiled. Evan shook his head, confusing Steve.

"Nope, I'm ten cents ever forty minutes." He snickered. Steve returned it.

"So I take it you're the cheapest one on the market." Steve laughed.

"You know it. It's because I'm more accident-prone. I tend to mess on your yard and you need a shovel and a mop to clean it all up." Evan chuckled, making it sound as if he were a cow or something like that, but the expression on Steve's face meant he translated it differently.

"You need a bucket. Nice." He looked at me. "How about you Dare-bear? You hanging out with the fruit cup and I after school?" I was about to say yes when I shut my mouth. I forgot that I couldn't. I sighed and shook my head. "Why not?"

"I have Soccer tonight." I replied, feeling more than bummed.

"Skip it." Steve shrugged. I looked at him as if he slapped me in the face.

"No! Tonight is a game!"

"Darren, why don't you just quit it? It's a stupid game anyway." That hurt to hear him say that. I loved soccer almost as much as I loved spiders. He'd quit after that night of the Cirque. He said it was too childish. He changed a lot after that night. Still bossy, but different all the same. He seemed pushier, more violent, less caring, desperate to make people seem wrong. To prove them wrong. What happened in the theatre anyway? "Fine, then go and play a stupid game with the nerd squad, I don't care. Evan and I will be at my place afterwards if you aren't to sleepy." He was insulting me.

Wrapping his arm around Evan's shoulder he began to walk out of the locker room with him as the bell went off. Evan looked at me over his shoulder, his expression worried, almost pleading. I stood there, shocked as the entire room cleared out, and I was the only one left. Gritting my teeth, I slammed my fist against Steve's locker. How could he just sit there and insult me like that? Insult the thing he used to love as well? Then replace me with someone he claimed he hated? What the hell happened to him in that Theatre!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The whole game was miserable. I was steamed about what Steve had said and how could Evan even think of going along with it? What a double-crosser! I walked into the house and threw my soccer bag on the floor next to the end table at the end of the couch.

"Darren, do you want anything special for dinner tonight?" Mom asked, taking off her coat and heading right into the kitchen. She knew how furious I was. I had been ranting about it the whole time, before and after the game.

"Steve replaced me!" I had said when I saw her before I was supposed to be out on the field -during the time I was supposed to be gathering luck from my mom.

"Steve did what?" She asked.

"Steve replaced me with the new kid!" I snorted at my remembrance of him. I had never wanted to punch Evan in the face before. Oh! And to make things cherrier we saw them on Steve's front porch on our way back to the house! And Steve had the nerve to wave! "No, make whatever you want. I'm going to go take a shower." I kicked my shoes off and grabbed a clean towel out of the basket at the bottom of the stairs.

"Darren?" I stopped at the bottom and looked at her, her back was to me.

"Huh?"

"Don't let it get to you, I'm pretty sure Steve wanted you there as badly as he wanted the other little boy there." She assured me, smiling at me over her shoulder. I remember how Steve had told me to quit soccer and how he wanted me to hang out with him.

"No, he wanted me to quit the thing I love doing to hang out with him! And then he just said fine whatever and walked away!" I snapped. She turned the stove on and filled up a pot of water.

"Darren sweetie," She turned to face me. "Now that Steve had quit the soccer team, his time with you will be limited." She walked over to me and cupped my face. "I mean, with school and then you going off to practice right after and coming home tired, and games on the weekends, there won't be time for you and him anymore and he wants that, he wants to just…hangout with you." She smiled.

"If so then why did just go whatever?" I huffed.

"He knows that you love the game, and he didn't want to force you to quit it. You know he doesn't want to take from you and make you miserable." She messed up my hair and rested her hands on my shoulders.

"Then why did he take Evan?" I looked down and pouted. She sighed.

"Who is this Evan anyway? Is he a new student?" She went back to the stove to add in a one pound box of Spaghetti to it. I nodded.

"Yeah kind of. He was new a couple months ago and all the way up until now Steve's hated him. He started to show he liked him when him and Evan got into a fist fight in Gym." I explained to her. She laughed.

"You boys are so violent! He must be a real catch to make you jealous over him hanging out with Steven and not you." She winked at me over her shoulder. My cheeks turned hot.

"W-what do you mean by that?" Was she hinting that I had a crush on him? "You must be close friends, someone so close to you that you share everything in common. Interesting conversations, same interests. Heck, I bet you he even shares the same interest in spiders as you." She giggled and put the lid on the pot. I sighed on the inside. Why had I thought she was talking about me having a crush on him?

"He's awesome, he loves spiders and snakes and he travels around the world with his father and he's funny and smart and he doesn't get mad easily. I have a good time with him." I sat on the steps and linked my fingers.

"He's a very pretty boy, such long hair, I would love it if my hair grew that long you know?" She smiled. "Of course, there are some things I don't like about his physical appearance." She opened a can of spaghetti sauce and added it to a little sauce pan.

"Oh yeah? Like what?" I looked at her curiously.

"His face. He has narrow eyes, and his face is slightly stretched, and his body isn't exactly that defined. He looks kind of snakish himself, you know?" She looked at me expecting to understand her. I shook my head.

"Yeah I can see where you're coming from when you say his face is longer, but snakish, not really." I admitted. "I think he looks more or less like a bird." I smiled, imaging a stork with his head down so his beak looks like the lower half of a persons face. She laughed.

"That was mean!" She shot me a look.

"What? Birds are beautiful too!" I laughed. Standing I turned and started up the stairs. "I'm taking a shower now." I hollered down to her. Reaching the top of the stairs I rushed to the bathroom and slammed the door shut behind me. Throwing my towel on the towel rack I quickly slipped out of my clothes. I figured that if I got out and dressed quicker I'd be able to relax in my room before dinner. I didn't need to be harassed while I ate.

Reaching in I turned the hot water on, then the cold water and waited for it to turn to a comfortable temperature. Pushing the curtain back I stepped in. The hot water splashed against my flesh, calming me almost instantly. I sighed and just stood there, letting the water rush over my head and down my body. I guess I wasn't going to get my relaxation time in my room.

Grabbing the shampoo I began to scrub at my hair, trying to get all of the dirt and dead grass out of my hair that was awarding to our big win. Although it was one of the last games of the season. It was stopping late though, a few weeks after it was supposed to.

Grabbing my body wash I shot to washing the "importants". Once rinsed I stopped and just let the water rush over me once more, rubbing furiously at my eyes from time to time due to unrinsed shampoo dripping into them. I thought about him, Evan. He looked kind of familiar but I didn't know where from. Steve was taking a liking to him though. Of course, Steve was always one to do weird things. One day he found some of his mothers naughty DVD's and proceeded to watch them with me. He was getting all into it, shifting every few minutes. It was awkward for me, I'd never seen something like that. Then before I knew it, his hand was gone, right down the front of his pants. I'd wanted to tell him not to, but I was so speechless that all I could do was stare.

I looked down at the bottom of the bathtub, feeling uncomfortable again. He was overreacting too, he was copying the guy on the DVD and moaning. I didn't know why, I didn't know why he was doing that, but he had gotten into it too much.

I looked at it. It was just a muscle. I wrapped my hand around the lower half of my arm and copied what I'd seen the man on the movie do. It was the same, both muscle, only the arm had a bone in it and that hurt more when it was injured. It didn't feel good. It felt dumb. I let my arms drop as I stared at it. Wrapping my hand around it I moved it up and down a few times. Nothing.

"That's stupid." I turned and shut the shower off. Opening up the curtain I grabbed my towel and wrapped it around my waist. Stepping out into the hallway, my skin being bitten by the cool hallway air, I headed to my room, goose-bumps pricking up all over my skin.

"Darren!" My mom hollered up the stairs.

"I know!" She was going to tell me dinner was ready, I knew. Pushing my door opened I stepped in and shut it behind me. Still facing the door I pulled my towel off and turned around, drying off my hair, but I stopped. My heart stopped in its tracks, my eyes opening wide, my breath stolen. Sitting there, on my bed, with wide eyes was the very person I wasn't expecting to see.

"D-Darren!" He threw himself to his feet and laughed nervously, shifting around, his eyes closed. "I-I'm s-s-sorry!"

"Evan…" I didn't know what to say, I didn't know what to do, I just stared at him. Slowly, only my arms moving I brought the towel down and tied it around my waist, never taking my eyes off of him. He looked at me hesitantly, then gave me an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry Darren, I didn't mean to, I, I didn't…your mom told me you got dressed in the bathroom, I didn't know that, I wasn't expecting to-" He was stuttering badly. I cupped my junk, still embarrassed as hell that he saw it. "I-" He stopped. His head dropped, his bangs falling in his face. "I should be going home now." he started towards the door, walking briskly. I gasped and grabbed his arm, pulling him back inside the room. "Darren?" He looked at me shocked.

"No! You don't have to go!" I couldn't let him go back! Steve was out there waiting to devour him and steal him away from me forever! I dropped his arm. What was I? I was thinking as if I owned him, as if he were mine, as if he were made for me. He looked at me confused, his hair drooping over his right shoulder as he tilted his head.

"Darren? What's wrong?" What's wrong? What's wrong. No, I couldn't tell him what I was thinking. I looked at him, my eyes skimming his body for something I could use as an excuse such as a cut or a bruise or something. There was nothing. Wait! There was something, but the something made me angry.

"Your clothes. You're wearing a pair of Steve's shorts and one of his t-shirts" I pointed out. The pair of shorts Steve was wearing was for his track runs a few years ago, and with how long Evan's legs were, they looked like female running shorts. And the t-shirt he was wearing was one of Steve's favorite shirts, one of his Grateful Dead shirts. I'm not sure if he would buy that I was looking at his clothes. He smiled and looked down.

"Yeah, we ended up wrestling in his backyard and I got filthy so my clothes are in his washer now, so he let me borrow some of his. I guess he thinks if we go back to my place that I won't want to come back and spend the night with him." He laughed. I looked at him slightly hurt.

"You're spending the night with him tonight?" I had a slight twinge of a smile on my face, my eyebrows furrowed. He smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, of course, I kept asking him if we could get you over to spend the night with us as well and he said 'no because he probably has another big game tomorrow. Nerd, always spending his weekends at that stupid field.'" He smiled, mocking him. I bit my bottom lip.

"Nope, I don't have a game tomorrow, this was our last game, he should know that, he was playing soccer with me for the past 3 years." I stopped to think about it. Evan was here with me right now, which meant Steve let him over here to talk to me, or he snuck out. I smiled. "I'll get you a place set up." I whirled around and started to adjust an area on the bed to fit two people. It was a twin sized mattress so it would work out.

"What do you mean?" He looked at me confused.

"You're staying here." I smiled back at him, fluffy up my favorite pillow for him to use.

"I can't." He protested.

"Did my mom offer you dinner?" I stood up straight. He looked at me and nodded slowly. "What did you say?" I was going to get him to stay with me whether he liked it or not.

"I said 'that would be nice, thank you' and then she told me you were in the shower and I could wait for you in your room." he explained. I snickered.

"Well my mom has this rule where whoever eats here sleeps here, and you're eating here." I beamed proudly, loving my mom to death for her bad habit of offering the neighbor kids food when they were only here for a couple minutes.

"But what about Steve? My clothes are still over there, he wanted me to spend the night with him." He looked out the window as if he were looking at Steve in the streets. "He said we were going to watch some of his mothers movies." He muttered. I stared at him frightened. Those movies? No!

"Uh, you don't want to watch those movies." I barked quickly. He looked at me frightened, his eyes wide.

"Why?" He whined.

"Because, they're uh…" I looked around. "uh, uh, uh," the door downstairs opened and in came Annie and my dad, followed by the sound of clanking dishes. "Oh it's dinner time, come on." I grabbed his hand and pulled him out of my room, half running down the stairs.

"Darren slow down!" He tripped on one of the last steps and knocked me to the ground.

"Oh my goodness! Darren are you ok?" Mom squealed.

"Darren you klutz!"

"Now young lady be nice to your brother!" My father hollered at Annie as mom came and helped me sit up. Evan had rolled off of me and was holding his head.

"Oh no, are you ok?" She rushed to his side. He didn't answer he just laid there, his arms clamped around his head. Dad went to pick him up but he was limp.

"Did I kill him!" I panicked, kneeling on the floor next to him. My breath came in short, shallow, fast pants. Terror filled me as I imagined them flipping him over and his face being shattered. I killed him, because I ran down the stairs with him. Now neither Steve or I can have him.

"No Darren don't be silly, he's still breathing." My mom snorted.

"Evan? Evan are you ok?" I touched him lightly. He twitched, his flesh jumping.

"Ouch, my head is squealing." He slowly let his arms drop to his sides. He looked at me and smiled, his eyebrows dipped.

"I'm sorry, I thought I killed you." I apologized. He laughed and shook his head.

"I heard you ask that. No, I was kind of…knocked out for a couple seconds." My dad stood up, pulling Evan to his feet. Mom and I stood up as well. A loud scream escaped for Annie behind me. Evan looked down at me and choked, a smile stretching across his face like he was about to laugh.

"Eeew! Mom! Darren's naked!" BOth of my parents looked down and gasped. My mom rushed over and covered Annie's eyes. My whole body went hot as my dad and Evan just stared.

"Well, son, I…I see why you're called my son." Dad rushed into the kitchen. Evan bent down and wrapped my towel around me. I couldn't move, I just stood there. I was just naked, in front of my whole family…and a friend.

"I think you might want to go put some underwear on." Evan laughed lightly. Turning I dashed up the stairs, a couple tears rushing to my eyes. Throwing myself into my room I scrounged around for some clothes and settled with a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. I had no school tomorrow, why would I bother keeping these shorts clean for gym?

Once dressed I rushed out of my room again and down the stairs. I hated myself for that. Annie and my parents were all seated at the table. Evan was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs, a smile on his face.

"What are you grinning at?" I shot at him, feeling as if he was mocking me.

"that was the most entertaining thing I've seen in a long time, and trust me, I've seen some entertaining things." He joked, wrapping his arm around me. I inched away from him.

"Please, don't touch me when I know you've seen me naked, at least not right off the bat." He laughed and nodded.

"Will do." He poked me in the side. I squirmed away from him and walked off to the kitchen. Annie glared at me. The seats were set up so that there was a chair next to Dad and Annie. I grabbed the chair closest to Annie, but she slapped my hand.

"No, that seat is for Evan." She barked. I looked at her confused.

"Said who?" I shot back.

"Said me, and mom agrees. Boys who flash off their naked bodies deserve to sit next to men, so go sit next to dad!" I glared at her.

"It's not like I purposely got naked in front of all of you."

"You shouldn't have come down in a towel!" She interrupted.

"Mind your own business!"

"Grow some balls!" I stepped forward, my fists clenched. Mom slapped her across the mouth as Evan grabbed me and began to pull me back. My dad began to yell at me, telling me to stop as mom told Annie not to use such foul language in this house.

"It's alright Darren!" Evan cried out, trying to keep from being elbowed in the face by my swings. "I'll sit next to your sister, I don't mind!" I didn't listen. I wanted to kill her, I wanted to punch her in her midget face. Suddenly, a sharp pain erupted through the back of my neck. I screamed and pulled myself away. Everyone in the room went silent as I rubbed the back of my neck. There was a drop of blood along my fingertips.

"Did you bite me?" I questioned, looking at him slightly horrified. He shared that look with me, shifting.

"It got you to stop, didn't it?" I rubbed the back of my neck again and looked at the blood.

"I guess it did." I pulled the chair out for him. Nodding gently he took his place in the seat, leaving me to sit in between him and my father. Standing, my mom began to dish out our food. Evan stared at his plate once mom dished out the corn and the meatballs. They were huge meatballs, my favorite. Mom always cooked this when one of us was upset or we had guests. Each of us got three meat balls which were the size of mini baseballs. Cutting off each of us two slices of Garlic bread she sat down.

Grace wasn't said when we had guests, just incase the person we were housing didn't follow the same religion. I looked at Evan. He was just sitting there, staring at his food as everyone else began to dig in.

"What's the matter sweetie?" Mom asked from across the table. Evan looked up at her taken aback for a second, then smiled.

"Nothing, it looks delicious. I don't know whether I'm supposed to eat it or frame it." He chuckled. Her cheeks turned red.

"Why that is the sweetest thing I have ever heard." She rested a hand over her heart. My dad shot him a death glare with a forkful of spaghetti hanging out of his mouth.

"But it's true. I mean, I travel around the world and not once have I see a dish prepared as beautifully as this. I would dig in but it would make me feel like I'm vandalizing priceless art." He laughed. She shifted. She was eating this right up wasn't she? Her face was red, her breathing was picking up. Dad looked at her hurt. "Such talent of organizing, in Japan a meal that is prepared is a symbol of characteristic for the chef. If it's prepared sloppily, then it shows that the person is in too much of a hurry, and doesn't necessarily care about his guests, but when put together in a beautiful manner such as this, it symbolizes that the person is indeed beautiful, and caring. In Japan, you would be praised for your beauty based on the details you put into your meals and your home." He smiled. That just about did it. She stood up, excusing herself from the table. Rushing into the other room, she dashed off upstairs. Evan looked after her with a worried expression. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No, said everything right." Dad grumbled, no longer eating, sitting there with his arms crossed.

"You made her excited." I laughed. Evan and Annie didn't really understand what I meant by that, but only Annie remained clueless.

"Excited? Oh!" His eyes opened wide. I didn't mean for that to happen!" He laughed, itching his head. I just shook my head and sighed, a smile on my face.

"You're oblivious." A few minutes later she came back down in a knee length skirt and a black tank top. Her face was red, her hair was down and messed up. Evan smiled at her. She looked like a train wreck with an after glow.

"You look beautiful." Evan complimented. She stopped, her face turning a whole other shade of red.

"Thank you, hun." She smiled and started to take her seat again. I was just waiting for him to carry on about how beautiful she was. Damn it Evan! Keep it up and the poor woman won't be able to eat dinner! She'll be spending too much time in her room! But he didn't carry on, he just started to dig into his meal, pushing the giant meatballs off to the side of the plate. "Oh, you aren't a vegetarian are you?" Mom squeaked, catching his act. He looked at her confused, then down at his plate and laughed.

"Oh no, I just like to save the best for last. Although it's kind of hard when I feel like I'm at a showcase rather than a meal." She started that deep breathing again. I rolled my eyes.

"So you must be Evan, Darren tells us a lot about you." Annie barged in, smiling at him. He smiled back at her, then flashed me a quick look.

"Really? What does he say about me?" My heart stopped. I tell her stuff that I don't tell my parents, stuff like if he were a girl I'd date him. I looked at her pleadingly but all she did was grin wildly.

"Well he tells me stuff that different than what he tells mom and dad." She twirled some spaghetti around her fork and popped it in her mouth.

"Really? Like what?" She smiled, wiping her mouth off. No Annie, don't! Don't!

"Well he tells mom and dad stuff like 'Oh he's really awesome and he travels all around the world and stuff like that' when he tells me 'he's really pretty if he were a girl I'd date him for sure. You'd think he's hot too but you wouldn't like how feminine he looks' and other stuff like that." Everyone was quiet, no one eating. Evan slowly turned around and looked at me, a smile stretching across his face.

"Darren, do you think I'm pretty?" He grinned wildly.

"Did you not hear what I said? IF HE WERE A GIRL, you're not a girl so back off!" I snapped.

"Aww Dare-bear, it's alright." He shifted so he was looking at me face to face. "I want to tell you a story. My father and I visited a little tribe near Africa to research a wild bird. We stayed in the village with the natives. Now, after a month or two, I was told that the chief's son liked me like that. So, acting as my translator, I sat my dad down with the Chief's son and found out that I was the most beautiful thing he's ever seen. Now, I didn't know how to take that. There it was supposed to be an honor to be thought of beautiful by the Chief or the Chief's son, even higher of an honor if you're a male. I was flattered, really. In some places if a male thinks another male is beautiful, it is meant that the male that is liked is saintly, or powerful and will either become a priest or the leader of a tribe.

"Now, after a bit, knowing that the chief's son was lusting after me, I found out that the Chief himself wanted me as well. So my dad came in one night and said we had to leave right away because there was a ceremony being held the next night to slaughter the chief's current wife -who was given position for being the most beautiful out of all of the girls in the village- and for me to be sworn in as his wife." My jaw dropped as did my parents. Annie didn't understand.

"why is that so bad?" She questioned. Come on Annie! You were in health! You know why it's bad!

"Because it would have meant that I was the wife of a fat, smelly old man in a loin cloth and the property of him and his son which would inevitably lead to me having sex with them." Evan explained.

"But you're a boy, how does that happen?" She looked at me confused. I stood up and walked over to her, whispering in her ear about the other hole that could be used for sexual conduct that Mr. Bigwarfe told us about. She gasped and looked at me disgusted. "Eww! Couldn't you have just said I have a headache tonight? Maybe tomorrow? for like…the rest of your natural life?" Evan chuckled humorlessly.

"Actually, if someone said they had a headache they would perform surgery and everybody dies from that." Her jaw dropped. "So yeah, it's kind of flattering to hear that Darren is attracted to me." He smiled at me and winked.

"I said IF YOU WERE A GIRL, god people, use you heads for something other than to hammer nails with!" He laughed. "So mom, can he stay the night tonight?" I asked, looking up at her. She leaned back in her chair and took a sip of her milk. Evan flashed me a look that screamed but you said if I ate dinner here it was automatic!

"Of course, he is eating here." She smiled at me. Yes! She must have heard what I told him upstairs! Thank you god for our thin walls and floors! Evan sighed next to me.

"Alright, but I'm going to have to go over to Steve's to get my clothes and tell him." He informed me. I nodded. After dinner, he thanked my mom for the food and complimented her to death on how good it was. Heading straight for the door, he pulled it open. I pushed it shut and slid in between him and door, a smile on my face.

"So, you're going to come back right?" He laughed and nodded.

"Well I did eat dinner didn't I?" I smiled and opened the door for him. Flashing a hand at me in a quick wave he ran out and down the steps running down the road. I smiled as I watched him run. He wasn't wearing shoes, which meant he was coming back. I kept watching him until he was gone. Five minutes gone and I started to feel lonely.

"Darren, come here." Uh oh, that didn't sound good. I stepped back in and shut the door. My parents were sitting on the couch, glaring at me. "We have to talk," My mom said sternly. I sighed. Taking a seat in the recliner across from them I looked them in the eyes. "Now Darren, that boy is very beautiful, and he has it in his head that homosexuality is alright due to the culture's he's seen. Plus, he's very seductive, if he tries to have sex with you, tell us we'll kick him out ok-"

"Mom! Whoa, whoa whoa! Evan isn't going to try and boink me, he's not like that." I laughed, looking at her embarrassed. "Why would he do that?"

"You're a very good looking boy and he's very into you, I can see that,"

"I mean for goodness sakes Darren, he bite your neck!" Dad hollered.

"Uh, his hands were full, how else was he going to stop me form being the crap out of Annie?" Annie had gone upstairs to get ready to go to her friends house for the night. If I remembered right, Mom and dad were getting a hotel room tonight so they could be alone. So it'll be me and Evan here, Annie and her friend at her friends house, and mom and dad in a Hotel room. I smiled wildly.

"Plus, we're not going to be here tonight, so if he does try to touch you-"

"Mom, he's not going to touch me!" I stood up and ran off upstairs. I was tired of them accusing him for something he didn't do or wasn't going to do. I slammed my bedroom door shut and threw myself onto my bed. I stared at my ceiling, waiting for him to come back.

It must have been fifteen twenty minutes before my mind started wandering. I began to think of how I felt around him, and how familiar he was, but I didn't know who he was. Suddenly, the phone rang. Reaching over I grabbed my handset and looked at the caller ID. It was Steve.

"Hello?" It was silent for a few seconds.

"Darren?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah, it's Evan." My heart started racing.

"Evan! What's taking you so long? You fall in?" I teased. He laughed, a soft grunt escaping his lips.

"No, my clothes are in the dryer, I should be over in about thirty to forty minutes." I nodded as if he could see it.

"Ok, Steve say it was alright?"

"Yeah, he said 'Darren stealing away my prom date, that dork, I'll have to take care of him in school tomorrow, ha ha ha.'" He mocked Steve. I laughed.

"He can bring it." Evan laughed.

"So yeah, I'll be over in about a half an hour. I nodded.

"Alright dude, be careful on your way back."

"I will, thanks." "Bye." He hung up. I put the phone back on the stand and started to look up at the ceiling again. Forty minutes of staring at my ceiling. This was going to be boring as hell. Standing I made my way around my room, looking at random things. Opening my closet I sighed. Was there anything I could look at? Down towards the bottom of the closet, something caught my eye. Curious, I bent over and grabbed what it was wrapped up in. It was a bag fully of old year books.

Taking it back to my bed I pulled out the one from last year and looked around for my class. Sure enough was Steve. He was sitting there with a goofy grin on his face like he was going to jump up and start ax murdering people. And off on the next page, was my picture. I laughed, snorting a bit. That was the year I thought the flip up of hair in the front was cool, and now that I looked at it, I looked like a dweeb.

Closing the book I put it back in the bag and reached for another one. It was from second grade. Wow, I didn't know that I kept one in here from that long ago. Opening it I started to look through our class. Emma was in here. She was adorable back then. Her sister Nina was in here as well. I laid back, looking at the picture of her closely. I remember in forth grade Emma came in crying. I asked her what was wrong but she didn't tell me, at least, not before a teacher pulled me away. The teacher told me that Nina had gotten into a car accident and died. I closed my eyes, trying to imagine what it must feel like losing someone like that. Mom, Dad, Annie. A tear trickled down my face. It was awful. Playing it all out in your head, imagining the way of the crash, the impact. Imagining the rush of the ambulances to the hospital, only to find out that loved one it dead. And she was really close to Emma too, that's what hurt most about it all.

Turning the page I looked at Steve's picture. He was chunky back then, I remember that. Almost a fat kid. And me, I was pretty chunky too. We all were, except for one kid that caught my eye. I looked at his picture. He had a long, stretched out face, his hair was short and black, his eyes narrow, no smile on his face. I remember this kid. We used to call him the Debbie Downer of the Second Grade. He moved away at the end of that year after his mother died. He looked like Evan, a younger, more evil version of Evan. The single toned skin, the narrow eyes, the black hair. There was one thing that was different between him and Evan now. Evan smiled.

I looked off to the side amongst the names, reading the names of the kids right to left out loud.

"Daniel Rackshane, Lizzie Ramsey, Mark Rickson, Evan Rider." I stopped. Evan Rider? That was that kids name? I threw myself off of the bed and rushed for the new mid-year yearbook that the school started to give out. This one was just a collection of pictures for kids who didn't want the fancy stuff such as pictures of club activity and what not. Evan had come to this school just in time for picture day, so I knew he'd be in here.

I ripped the book open and looked furiously for his picture.

"Daniel Rackshane, Lizzie Ramsey, Mark Rickson…Evan…Rider." I gasped, dropping the book. Evan Rider? I stood up and started to pace around my room. Did Steve know about this? That Evan Rider was back? I didn't know much about Evan, but I knew that in second grade he was a serious freaking jerk! He was worse than Steve on a bad day. He swore, and kicked things and hit teachers. He pushed me down the stairs and made me break my arm one day. Also in winter he made me stick my tongue to a metal pole. I remember, that's who Steve always hung out with when we first started to see each other. He was like me with him, the follower. Whatever Evan said went with, whatever Evan said he'd do.

But half way through the second grade, his mother died of cancer. I remember how much angrier he got after that. He was damaging chalk boards and throwing scissors at people. Eventually they told his father he had to make it stop, so his father and him moved away. At that time, I remember his father being a Veterinarian, he loved animals, but whenever I went into the animal shelter -where he worked- just to look at the animals and cuddle them, he'd tell me to forgive Evan. I always did forgive him. He had a hard life, but it didn't mean I liked him and considered him my best friend.

I liked to listen to his father though. To listen to his stories of wanting to travel around the world and see other kinds of animals for himself. I laid the book on my chest and thought of those stories. To take care of wild animals, to see them, to be face to face with them. I closed my eyes, willing to make the time go by faster. Before I knew it, the bed shifted and something heavy replaced the book. My eyes snapped open and there on top of me was a thin body, it's legs on either side of me wearing a pair of short shorts, long black hair dangling down about it.

"Evan!" I squealed. He laughed and smiled at me, sitting up straight, all of his weight on me. "I thought you said you'd be over there for about forty minutes?" I questioned, knowing that it didn't take me more than ten minutes to find the yearbooks, look through them and have a break down.

"Darren, you fell asleep. I've been here for 30 minutes. Annie's gone, and so are your parents." He told me, not getting off but instead sliding down so I could sit up. Of course he was in my lap now, leaving me feeling uncomfortable. But all of that seemed to amplify now that I knew who he was. That he was the kid who threw stuff, who broke my arm, who put glue down the back of my pants, shoved my tongue against a frozen metal pole. My fists clenched.

Lashing out I grabbed his shoulders and slammed him to the bed, pinning him below me. "Darren!" He squealed, looking at me frightened. I didn't know what to say to him now that he was helpless underneath me, but I knew that I wanted to make him feel like the follower, to make him feel like he's been dominated like I've felt my entire life. Although his domination over me ended in Second Grade, Steve had carried on in his place. I wanted to make him feel weak.

"You…asshole." I growled, my arms shaking. I was so pissed off over nothing. Or was it that one of my enemies had decided to come back and here he was, jerking me around again? Turning me and Steve back into his follower? "Do you know what you put me through my entire life!" His eyes opened wide.

"D-Darren, I-I don't know what-"

"You're a liar! Second grade you jerked me around, shoved me down stairs, stuck my tongue to a metal pole in winter, slammed my thing in a text book! You were a jackass! A manipulative little jackass! And here you go coming back into mine and Steve's life and making us love you." I started crying.

"Darren." His hand touched the side of my face. I pulled away from him and kicked all of the yearbooks off of the bed and across the room. He sat up and looked at the mess of loose papers that tore free of their binding. I held my head helplessly in my hands, crying like a little girl into them. "Darren please." I didn't answer him. He sighed. "I knew coming back was a bad idea." He whimpered. "Dad loved this town, and he wanted me to make things right, to make amends before I left the schooling world all together. I thought that…no, I hoped that if I came back different, no one would remember me, and I could start over." I looked at him.

"Evan," He sighed a shaky breath and shook his head.

"I guess I was wrong, huh? You remember me, I'm pretty sure Steve does too." He looked at me through teary eyes. "That's why he hated me at first, I guess. I never knew he hated me back then, I never knew you hated me back then either. I was an idiot, a child who didn't know how to express his anger properly, and I see that made you numb. I'm sorry Darren, I should leave." He stood up and made his way for the door. I practically threw myself off the end of my bed and grabbed his arm. "Darren?" He whirled around. I slammed him against my door, pinning his hands to the wood on either side of his head. Gently I slid a knee in between his legs, pinning him there.

"I want to dominate you." I said with a smiled. His eyes opened wide, his jaw dropped.

"What! Ok Darren I know you mean something else but oh my god! That sounded wrong!" He squirmed. I wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him against me.

"No I meant it, I want to dominate you, I want to make you mine, my follower. I want to control you like you controlled me all of those years ago." I looked deep into his eyes. "Only this time, instead of using pain and hatred to dominate you, I'll use pleasure and love to dominate you." He gasped.

"Darren are you talking about sex?" His eye twitched.

"If it has to get that far." I gave him an alienated look. He struggled against me, but he wasn't that strong, well, not at that moment he wasn't. Laughing I clicked my light off and dragged him by his waist. Throwing him on the bed I jumped on him, pinning him to my mattress. "So, what do you want to do first? I told you we'll have fun." He looked at me terrified, and that's when I noticed it. He was exhausted. Was it from running to Steve's and back? Was it because it was 10:30? Or was there something else behind it. I rolled off of him and pulled him close to me, holding him tight in my arms. He hesitantly rested his head against my chest. I was examining him, to see if anything was tampered with.

A pool of disgust welled up inside my stomach. Here I was treating him as if he were a piece of property. But all I could feel was a smile on my face when nothing looked to be out of place.

"You're tired." He whispered.

"You're even more tired than I am." I replied back, resting my chin on his head.

"I am." He was silent for a few moments. "Are you gay?" My heart wrenched in my chest, my face hot at the accusation.

"No!" I snapped, but then stopped, realizing that I was fawning over him. "I don't know. I think, it's complicated." He looked up at me. "Like, you're the only one I'd think of doing this with." I explained deeper. I didn't know how to explain it.

"I'm not gay either." He whispered, his eyes closing. I looked down at him. He was pretty, and he was kind. The opposite of how he'd been when we were younger. I bit my lip lightly. Leaning down I pressed my lips against his. My heart started pounding. I was kissing a guy. What the hell was possessing me to do this? He let off a light moan and reached up, wrapping his arms around my neck. I thought of him as if he were a girl, but his flat chest told me differently as I held him close to me. "I'm not gay." He gasped, pulling away for air before returning his lips to mine.

"Neither am I." I kissed back, holding him tightly in my arms. "I just want to own you." He smiled at me and closed his eyes. I held him there and watched as he began to fall into sleep. I smiled and shifted him so his arms weren't around me anymore. He grunted and rolled over so his back was to me. I didn't like that, I wanted to look at his face. Pushing myself closer I wrapped my arm around his waist so I was holding him to me. He whimpered, his eyes closed, his shoulder blades pressing against my chest. I thought about what I had just done. I just kissed another guy. I stared at the wall, listening to the crickets outside chirp away. I just kissed a guy. I just kissed Evan Rider…my enemy.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

It was awkward on Monday. Evan and I sat through our classes, feeling as if we needed to be near each other, but wanted to keep our distance. I couldn't tell if it was love, or if it was just the desire to be close to him, to be able to know that I'm in control of him now.

Lunch time rolls around and Steve greets us at the bottom of the stairs.

"Hey ladies, how was your weekend?" He smiled. Evan had spent the night with me Friday, and with Steve on Saturday. It was kind of awkward.

"Mine was fine." Evan smiled, jumping off of the bottom step, landing next to Steve.

"How about you thief?" He looked at me. I snickered and gave him a thumbs up. He laughed. "it's ok, because I was able to have him all to myself on Saturday. No Mom, no you, no one else to bother me, just me, Evan and my bedroom." He wrapped his arm around Evan's shoulders, pulling him to his side tightly. Evan laughed and pushed him away. I glared at him as he turned his back on me and followed after Evan to the lunch line.

Today was barf on a tray. It was some greasy roast beef with greasy cheese and greasy milk in a greasy carton. Yeah, everything was greasy in this school. It made me wonder how people even stayed skinny. I grabbed a salad and a sandwich and followed after Steve and Evan. Alan looked at us as we made our way across the cafeteria, then turned and whispered something to the others. My hair stood up on end as he turned back and gave me a devilish grin. What the hell was that about?

"Hey Alan." Evan greeted, sitting down in the empty seat at the end. There was an empty chair on either side of him. One for me, one for Steve.

"Hey Evan, so, what did you and Darren do at his house?" He questioned, looking up at him with a teasing grin. Evan poked at his food lightly and shrugged.

"Slept." He didn't seem like he was too excited about our sleep over. Of course, he was exhausted, so was I, and on top of all of that, there were those, weird confessions that I'd made to him.

"Wow, that sounds…fun." Alan looked at him dully.

"Well, it's not like I didn't have fun, it's just, you know. I was tired from being over at Steve's all day and Darren was probably exhausted from his game so we slept." He nodded.

"So, what did you and Steve do when you spent the night at his house?" He looked down at the table with wide eyes. My heart skipped a beat. I rested my chin on my hand and grinned bitterly.

"Yes, what did you do?" I was trying to mask it with curiosity.

"Oh you know, we watched some movies, wrestled, played games, looked at comic books, he told me some stories about his travels. Did you know he's seen about seven or eight freak shows?" Steve answered for him, a large smile on his face. I looked at Evan curiously. He's seen freak shows? Like the Cirque?

"Really? Which ones?" I asked. Evan looked up at me and smiled a reluctant smile.

"Uh, I'm not sure if you've seen any of them. But I've seen everything from Traveling Carnivals to walk ins" He smiled. "But one that amazed me the most was the Cirque. It was like, all of the others seemed demeaning to everyone, but this one. It was all genuine. People who's limbs could grow back, poisonous spiders, people who could turn themselves inside out, real snake boys, everything!" Steve's face warped as we listened to his story in amazement.

"Steve and Darren saw that same thing a couple months ago! Heck, they'd seen it the night before you transferred back here." Alan blurted. Evan smiled and nodded.

"I know, I was hoping that I could go again, but dad never left as soon as he said he was going to. He usually leaves at night to do bar hopping and spend the night with some of his old friends, but he didn't leave." He looked down at his food and shoveled some into his mouth. "What did you guys see when you went?" He looked at me and Steve.

"We saw the twins, the guy who could grow his limbs back, the one who could eat anything, the lady with the strong teeth."

"The guy with the spider," I interrupted Steve.

"Oh yes, it's always you and that damn spider, Darren!" I glared at him.

"Well it was always you with the hot snake boy Steve!" I taunted. Evan laughed.

"The line up I saw was different. There was the girl with the strong teeth, the guy who could eat anything, the wolf man, the snake boy and the performing spider. Also there was the girl who could turn herself inside out, the twin boys who could crawl inside each other and hide in each others bodies which was so freakishly awesome, and the snake boys line up was different. They said he usually did the ending, but this time he was doing the middle man act and the ending. He's pretty flexible." He smiled.

"Oh man, I would give my soul so see the snake boy, the performing spider, wolf man and the twins who could hide in each other!" Steve boomed. I rolled my eyes.

"I don't think the Snake boy wants to see you again, you might try to get a phone number out of him" I teased. He slapped my arm.

"You guys are lucky, you got to go." Alan pouted. Evan looked at him guiltily.

"You'll be able to see it one day. If I remember right they show up once every four or five years in the same place. As long as they don't tear down any abandoned theatre's or places like that then you'll be able to see it." He glared at Evan, trying to beat back a snicker.

"I want to see it now! I don't think I can wait five years!" He pulled at his hair, pretending to have a break down.

"Tough luck Daffy Duck, you're gonna have to wait, or find out their schedule and chase them down. And trust me, I don't think you can find out their playing time on the internet." Evan snorted. We all laughed and went about eating our lunch, talking about random things, Alan and them dropping hints that they thought Steve, Evan and I were all doing naughty things with each other. They were idiots. That wasn't the kind of domination I wanted. The kind of domination I wanted was to keep him, and make him do the things I wanted, like a slave. I wanted him to be the follower, for me to be the pack leader, the Alpha, him the beta. I'd wanted that with Steve and I for such a long time, but unfortunately, I knew that was never going to happen.

The bell rang and we all stood up at the same time like we did everyday, turning to a trash can to throw out what was left we weren't able to eat. Today we had Styrofoam trays so we could just throw them right out. There was no need to keep hold of them seeing how everyone knew they'd just melt in the dishwasher.

"So Evan," Alan started as we headed down the hallway. Evan looked up at him his hair slightly falling in his face. He had this habit where he looked at his feet as he walked. "When you gonna come over and stay at my house?" Alan gave a smirk. I knew what he was getting at. Stepping in between them Steve wrapped his arm around Evan's shoulder, using his body as a physical wall to keep out intruders.

"He isn't, he's staying at my house tonight with me." Steve sneered evilly. Alan pouted. Evan rolled out of Steve's arm, making the newly born twinge of jealousy that I was oblivious of fade.

"Actually," He stopped and looked back down, his face had an expression of depression on it. His breathing was deep, like he was going to cry or something, but there was no sign of it in his eyes. We all stopped and looked at him, waiting for what he was going to say. I felt uneasy, like I wasn't going to like what he was going to say. It was the feeling you got when you were watching a soap opera and your favorite girl comes home around Christmas time and walks in where everyone's eating. You get that feeling like something's happened, or you're dreading what the other person is going to say next but you don't say anything because it's stupid to ask a television what's going to happen next when a commercial clicks on. This was one of those feelings. "I'm not going over to anyone's house tonight." He replied finally. And here was my commercial break.

"What do you mean?" I asked. "There's something to it, I know there is." Everyone looked at me, except him. Everyone looked at me except the person I wanted. He stared at the floor, looking as if he were going to cry, but when he spoke, his voice was smooth and calm.

"My father, he…he got the call." He muttered. We all gasped. My heart shattered, anger fled over me, but it wasn't just me it overcame. Steve as well.

"What the hell do you mean by he got the call!" Steve snarled, stepping forward. Evan looked at him shocked, as if he weren't expecting us to be so upset about it.

"I…I have to go with my dad, he got the call, to go somewhere else." He repeated. Steve threw down his books. Evan threw his back against the wall, trying to stay as far away from the angry boy as possible.

"You can't just leave! You haven't been here a semester!" He snarled, slamming his hands to the wall on either side of his head. Evan stared at him through large, frightened eyes.

"But, that's a good thing…cause then like…it'll be easier for me to go. There's less of a connection between you and me now then there would be in a few months from now." He defended. It made sense, but the look that warped out onto Steve's face disagreed with everything about that statement.

"Oh? So you think you can just walk out on us because you were only with us for a couple months? You don't think we got attached to you in the small amount of time? Use your head fruit loop for something other than to hammer nails with!" Steve was screaming now. I stepped forward and pulled him off of Evan.

"Steve knock it off!" I growled, some odd feeling boiling in me. I felt like a mother lion with her cub. He glared me down and snarled.

"Back off Darren or I'll tear through you to get some sense into him!" I clenched my fists and pulled my lips back over my teeth like he was.

"How about you use your head? He's going to leave us no matter what, no if's and's or but's about it and there's nothing we can do to stop it because it's his father's decision! Not ours! I'm pretty sure that if he had the say in it, he'd stay here as well, but with you flipping out, I'm pretty god damn sure he's going to change his mind in the matter so why don't you grow some balls, shut up and let things roll out the way they have to!" That triggered it. He launched himself at me and slammed me against the wall. His fist smashed into my face, my vision turning red for a split second. I didn't know what was happening to me at first until the sharp pain in my lip came to a throbbing start.

I watched as his fist came at me again. Lashing out I grabbed it and pulled, pulling him close to me easily. Shooting in my direction, trying to pull against me, I snapped my foot out as if I were kicking a flying soccer ball and got him in the ribs. He gasped and pulled back. He backed away, his foot hitting a text book. Looking down he scooped it up and dashed at me. I gasped and went to dodge it but ended up bumping into Alan who was trying to grab me to hold me back when Evan tried to grab at Steve.

Bringing the book down Steve clipped me in the upper side of the head, a sickening crunch echoing through the halls as my vision went from colors, to red, white, to black.

CDF

I woke up in my own bedroom at home. My mom and dad were standing by my bed, an ice pack on my forehead. My head was throbbing. It felt like the pulsing of a massage chair. I gasped and let my head fall over, my eyes closing. The sound of my bedroom door opened, then shut again.

"Is he alright?" I heard a sweet, frightened voice question. My mother squeaked lightly. I grunted. "Darren? Darren are you ok? Are you awake?" I opened my eyes, my eyelashes fluttering. I looked up to see Evan sitting by my bedside. A smile came to his face, a worry relieved smile. He sighed. I smiled back and brought my hand up to my head. "Don't touch it." Evan grabbed my hand and brought it down, his hands were cool, and soft.

"What happened?" I questioned, feeling as if I were at my own funeral.

"You got into a fight with Steve at school and he smashed you in the head with a book hard enough to bend every page in it backwards as well as break the cardboard. I looked at him shocked, my head pulsing with a stabbing pain.

"Ouch." I whimpered groggily.

"You have a concussion, which means you can't go back to sleep right now until this time tomorrow. Also, you might have some damage to your neck." He looked back at my parents. My mom nodded. He sighed. "I am so sorry Darren, I shouldn't have said anything about leaving."

"What were you supposed to do Evan? Tell him you were going to his house and then him get even angrier at you and the rest of the world because you didn't show up?" I snapped. He looked at me shocked, then down at the side of the bed. I was the second. My eyebrows furrowed, my heart welling up with guilt. I was the second one today, who's yelled at him for something like this. For nothing. "I'm sorry Evan, please, please forgive me, and forgive Steve." I whispered. He looked up at me, his bottom lip quivering.

"Forgive you? Forgive you for what? For liking me? No, I won't forgive you for anything, I won't forgive you for being the best friends in the world to me." I looked down to see if my parents were wondering what was happening, to find that they had left. "I won't forgive you Darren, there's no reason to forgive you." He stood up and bent over me, his long black hair falling all around me. "I won't be going to school tomorrow, I'm leaving tonight." He whispered, his eyes looking hurt as they stared into me. "And unfortunately, my dad said you couldn't go with us, so this is goodbye." He whimpered, his voice breaking. I felt my heart crumbling in my chest, my fingers curling around the blankets as I tried to deal with this heartbreak. "I'm sorry, and thank you."

"Thank you for what?" I questioned, looking at him confused. He smiled at me, pushing his hair behind his ear. Closing his eyes he leaned forward, and carefully pressed his lips against mine. I held my breath and closed my eyes in return, savoring it. "Thank you, for dominating me." He whispered. Pulling away he turned and headed out of my bedroom, his arms wrapped around his abdomen tightly. That was it, that was the last time I would see him ever again. My last goodbye to Evan Rider.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Things were tense between me and Steve for the next year. It had slowly escalated from a few months to a year already. It all seemed so fast. Everyday it was like a slap in the face. I'd wake up thinking "Oh I can't wait to see Evan today." Then I'd remember that he was gone. Caput. Ido. Alle. Never coming back. I sat at the end of the lunch table, not saying anything to anyone. I haven't for the past six

months. Nothing. I didn't talk to Alan, Tommy, and I especially didn't talk to Steve.

I guess we were considered mortal enemies now. Steve glared at me from the other end of the long rectangular table, and I just ate my lunch. I hated his eyes on me. They pissed me off to no end. Throughout classes, that's all he did. Glare. I wanted Evan to be here to give me something other then Steve's ugly glaring mug to look at. The bell rang, dismissing the cafeteria. Thank god I didn't have to put up with it anymore. I stood up and headed up, dumping my tray in the garbage. I slung my book bag over one shoulder as I walked, not thinking of anything but to get to my next class so I could get the day done and over with, but behind me it seemed as if someone had something to say about it.

"Aww look at Darren trying to be a cool guy." Steve spat, hollering down the hallway. I stopped and looked back, the sound of his voice saying my name filling me with fire. I didn't say anything, just glared at him, but he wanted to take it farther. "You got a staring problem Shan?" He snarled. I dropped my bag to the ground, not answering him, getting even more mad. "I said what are you looking at!" He snapped, my silence pissing him off. I smirked, crossing my arms, finally fed up with the insults and his talking smack about me.

"I'm still trying to figure that one out." I replied. He stomped forward and slammed me against the wall, kicking my book bag out of the way.

"You wanna say that again Shan?" His breath was hot and smelt disgusting. I grimaced and turned my head. I was taller then him now. Somewhere along the months I had hit a growth spurt. It was a pain in the butt really. Now every pair of pants I put on were like Capri, so my mom took me out shopping. But even though I was taller, there was one thing I lacked now. Body mass.

"Wow, was it Evan's leaving that made you decide to stop brushing your teeth? That's disgusting, your breath smells like a dogs with colon issues." He snarls and punched me in the face. I feel a tear in the corner of my lip as I stumble. Tripping over my bag I fall to the floor, my elbows cracking off the tile. He stomps on my ribs, cracking one. I scream and he laughs.

"Not so tough now are you Shan?" He spits. One good thing about getting taller? My arms were longer now. I snapped my hand up and punched him in the nuts making him fall over me onto the floor. I scrambled to my feet and kicked him in the back as hard as I could. He screamed cursing at me as his hand shot back to his spine. He snapped a foot out and kicked my foot out from under me. I gasped as I went down. My face smashing off of his knee. He climbed over me, putting me in a headlock. I struggled against him, gasping as he cut off my air supply. "Why are you being a dick!" He snarled. I wheezed.

"Me being a dick?…you're the one giving me death glares everyday!" I whimpered, struggling for air. I could feel the pressure build up in my neck. My eyes were bulging out of my skull. I could hear my head squeal as he kept holding on.

"You're the one looking all moody and glaring at me! Ignoring my phone calls, making up excuses as to why you can't answer the phone only for me to find you outside on the porch with a notebook and a pen!" I stopped, thinking about it. I gasped and started trying to slip my fingers in between his arm and my throat.

"S-Steve…I never knew you called." I wheezed. He stopped squeezing, letting up a bit. Air rushed to my lungs almost as sweetly as it was painfully. But it wasn't enough.

"What do you mean Darren." He shot accusingly, sounding hurt.

"Mom never told me…you called." I panted, trying to slip out of his arm. "The phone would ring yeah, but she said it wasn't ever for me. She must have been making up excuses for me not to answer the phone." I look up at him the best I can, resulting in his arm crushing my throat a bit more, but I needed the eye contact to make sure he understood. "I don't think my mom wants me talking to you." He looked down at me confused, then it dawned on him. He growled and shoved me away.

"Your mom is a serious bitch." He cussed. I coughed, finally able to breathe regularly. My hand massaged the front of my neck as I pushed myself up so that I was sitting on my stomach. Normally I'd disagree with him. Normally I'd come up with an excuse as to why she did it, but this hardly seemed fair. She was trying to get me and my best friend since I was little to stop talking. "Hey, you ok?" He laid a hand on my shoulder as I wheezed. I could breathe, just, not as good as I wanted to. I coughed harder, shaking my head. "Dude…" my head started pounding as I wheezed and panted. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't get oxygen to my lungs, and I could hear slight panic start to rise in Steve. "Darren!" He grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet, taking me down the hallway towards the nurses office.

Mrs. Kernigan was busy on the phone when Steve brought me in. He sat me in front of the fan as if pushing the oxygen past my nose would help. I tried to take deep breaths, and only succeeded in making my head feel light. "What happened?" Mrs. Kernigan questioned, hanging up the phone. She stood up and came over to my side, looking confused and concerned.

"I put Darren in a head lock and now he can't breathe." Steve admitted. She snarled, rubbing my back, trying to get me to breathe.

"What? What were you thinking Steven? You could have killed him! Is that what you want? You probably collapsed his throat when you did that!" Steve shook his head calmly, his hands in his pockets.

"If it collapsed, wouldn't he not be able to breathe at all?" She shook her head, rubbing my back some more. I coughed, sweat running down my face. My heart was racing. How could they sit there and hold a conversation about my possible demise when I was dieing like this!

"Only part of it could collapse, the rest could just…fall at anytime." I stopped and looked at her horrified and tried to speak, my words coming out raspy and barely audible.

"Then shut up and help me!" She looked at me and nodded. Reaching down and around she wrapped her hand around my throat, kneading her fingers into the skin. Was she trying to kill me and get it over with?

"Breathe Darren, try to breathe." I listened, taking deep breaths as good as I could. I closed my eyes, focusing on only that, ignoring the comforting words she was giving me. She sounded like she was giving advice to a pregnant woman going through labor. And the last time I checked, I was still a male. "I'm going to call his mom." She told Steve. She wasn't at all happy with him, but I guess she felt like he needed to know. You know, just in case I was found in a dumpster with a package of Q-tips down my throat behind the school, she figured she'd set up her witness ahead of time. I wheezed, the pressure starting to lift. Steve looked at me, a slight spark of apology and sympathy in his eyes. It would have been something to celebrate if I wasn't dieing.

Returning to our side a couple minutes later she clasped her hand on my shoulder. "Well, your mother is coming to pick you up. Do you have all of your stuff?" I nodded. Steve just stood there, but when she was done with me, she turned on him and snarled. "You! Office right now!" He rolled his eyes. I could tell he wanted to say something in return, something like. You're not my mother, but he kept his mouth shut and slammed his hands into his pockets. Turning around her headed out the door and down the hallway, saying goodbye to me before he was out of sight, and sorry for strangling me.

My mother showed up a couple minutes later, a frightened look on her face. My head was pounding. It usually did that when oxygen failed to satisfy me. I'd get headaches when I'd hold my breath, which is why I never swam under water unless I had 2 pound bottles of Excedrin with me. I stood up and grabbed my bag. I didn't say anything to her, just heading to the office to sign myself out. She followed after me as I handed the secretary the pen and pad of paper back and headed for the front doors. Pushing them open I held them open for her then walked across the parking lot and climbed into the passenger side of the car.

She walked around the front of it and climb into the drivers side. She didn't speak until she turned the car on and started down the arrow directed path. She turned out of the parking lot and into the highway, heading back home. I didn't say anything, just looked out the window. "Darren, what happened?" She asked, finally breaking the silence.

"Nothing, Steve just put me in a headlock, that's all." She looked at me, her hands on the steering wheel.

"Why did you let him do that? I don't want you hanging out with him." She whined, but I wasn't in the mood to deal with it.

"Oh so I've noticed." I retorted, snorting. She looked at me confused. "So, Steve didn't call at all for an entire year huh?" I shot her an un-amused look. She looked as if she had a gun pointed at her head, but she kept quiet. "Mom," I continued. "You have to cut the umbilical cord."

"But I don't want him to corrupt you Darren I-"

"No! He's not going to corrupt me mom, it's you! Let me go, let me be with who I feel I should hang out with and if he proves as a problem for me and goes against my morals, then I'll stop being his friend. You trying to stop us from being friends is only going to piss me off and make me run away for good!" She was silent, her eyes on the road. There was a small glisten in her eyes. I looked away, back out the window. She sniffled, causing my heart to break, but I needed to get it through to her that it was my choice, not her's. "Mom, I'm sorry it's just, Steve is my friend, and you trying to make me abandon my friends is only going to backfire on you in the end." I looked at her.

Nodding she wiped the now flowing tears from her cheeks. "I-I know baby, I'm sorry." I sighed.

"No, mom. I'm sorry for yelling at you, I know you are just looking out for me, and I should be grateful for that but I'm 15 years old and I can look out for myself now. I can make my own decisions, and when I mess up I have to reap the consequences myself." She nodded and continued driving, heading down the long twisted highway towards our house. She said nothing else she just kept her eyes on the road, as if she were saying that she wasn't going to hold another conversation with me for as long as I lived. I sighed again and leaned forward turning on the radio. A song by Michael Jackson was on, smooth criminal as I believe it's called, the song that was once covered by Alien Ant Farm, at least I think that was band that covered it.

The moment the first word of the song were heard she decided that she was going speak. She looked at me her fingers still tied tightly around the steering wheel, she forced a smile that told me that she was still a little bit upset that I would consider her the main driving force between me and Steve fighting."Oh dear, your father and I would like to know if there is any place in the United States that you would like to go on vacation, where would it be?"

I thought about it for a second. I always wanted to go somewhere on vacation usually for spring break or something like that. But most of the places in the States were usually rainy or usually cold around springtime. The only few places that I actually knew that were warm and not desert would probably have either have been California, Texas, or Florida. I didn't mind Texas of course I always heard that it was really dry. And not that kind of dry where oh well if I start sweating all I have to do is stand outside and become dry again. No, it was one of those kinds of dry where you stand outside in for a couple seconds you just want to hide in a hole for the rest of the day and pray to God your hair doesn't catch fire.

So I guess it was either Florida, or it was California. I didn't really want to go to California because of all the hurricanes, but I guess there were a lot of hurricanes in Florida to so either way you look at it, I guess you're screwed. I shrugged my shoulders, my eyes glued to the passing trees on the side of the road, and replied with a casual "I don't know. Where would you like to go? I would like to go somewhere with a Disney World, I've never been there before." She smiled at me as she slowed for red light, turning her signal light on to turn onto our street.

"Oh Darren, Disney World in Florida is amazing I've been there a couple times before in my youth," I looked at her wondering why she was suddenly talking as if she were an 80-year-old woman looking back on her memories. But I didn't want to burst her bubble therefore I let her continue on with her story. "Back close to the time when it first opened up, at least the first time I heard about. It was about, one year before you were born. We went there for the very first time 15 years ago. At least, I believe it was 15 years ago. It might have been more than 15 years ago, but I know it was before you were born but not too long before you were born." She turned onto our street, heading down the vacant road. At least at this time it was vacant. "It was nice, it was a very fun vacation." I nodded.

"Okay so," I looked down at my lap. "Florida?" She nodded turning into our driveway, and shutting the car off.

"I hear, that Florida's Disney World has a lot more in it than California's, plus it's closer than California's." I nodded. Geographically, it was closer which meant that there would be a lot less money spent on the trip to Florida then to California. Now was the big question, when were we going? I looked at her, debating on whether or not I wanted to ask her or rather if she was going to keep it a surprise. But, I guess if she was to keep as surprise, or if she was trying to keep as a surprise then she failed miserably at it by asking me where I wanted to go.

"So are we going or no? Or were you just wondering?" She smiled at me, her eyes wrinkling in crows feet on the outer edges of her eyes.

"Well, if you go and pack up then we can leave the day after tomorrow. Or we can go shopping today, seeing how as you came home from school early. Or we can wait till the end of the week before we pack up and decide to leave." I felt my heart leap at the offer of leaving school early in the week. I had made sure that I didn't miss too much school, just in case of something like this came around so that I could miss a few days of school if not a lot. I smiled at her and shoved my door open, feeling excited.

"Well, I'm going to need some shorts, and some new T-shirts. All the clothes that I have now are too short for me, this growth spurt is really kicking my butt. If you know what I mean." She laughed and nodded, patting my shoulder.

"Bowling know exactly how you feel, I had gone through growth spurt when I was your age only there was a lot more of me to grow. Example being, my breasts and my bottom." I stared at her disgusted just imagining her going from flat to normal busted, or average. I stood up out of the car and shut the door running into the house, I could hear her laughing behind me as I dashed to my bedroom to see exactly what it was I would need to buy for my trip. I was looking for some form of excuse to travel world wide at least a little bit, cause who knows? Maybe I can run into Evan while I'm there?


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

((Warning: hardcore yaoi scene ahead. I guess rape.))

Mom and I got back from the mall later on in the evening. About 6 or 7. Finding clothes that would fit me proved to be a little more difficult then I expected, but all in all, not impossible. Seeing how I had grown beastly tall, I had to wear extra large shirts just so they would hang down far enough. I mostly bought t-shirts with snappy sayings on them or band t-shirts. They weren't fancy or sporty, but yet again, who was I trying to impress?

When we got home I helped my father pack all of our stuff into the back of the van. All of our stuff went on the bottom while Mom's and Annie's stuff occupied the top of the stack. The reason we did it that was was because we knew about forty to fifty times there one of them would want something from their suitcases, and it was going to be a pain in the butt to shove everything back in there.

"You excited for the trip?" Dad asked, tossing Mom's final bag in. I smiled and nodded, more than excited.

"Yeah, I can't wait." He returned the smile and shut the back of the van.

"Can't wait to go to Disney, or you can't waiit to get the heck out of here?" I laughed and shrugged my shoulders.

"A little bit of both. I've never been to the states, how many highschool students can just come out and say I went to the US?" He nodded and crossed his arms, leaning against the back of the van. He seemed concerned about something but what it was he kept hidden for the most part. I'd have to pry it out of him before mom came out.

"Not many. I'd like to keep my van, so we're going to be taking a ferry across." He looked at me, the smile still on his face. A Ferry, that was much better then having to ditch our van at the airport and fly across the ocean. Or...however it worked. I nodded and looked off across the street, wondering how I should ask him. Five minutes of silence or so went by before I just decided to ask.

"Dad, what's wrong?" I questioned, not looking at him, but out of the corner of my eye I could see his eyes on me.

"What do you mean?" He questioned in reply, his voice sounding as if he didn't care. I finally looked at him, sighing a bit. I wonder if mom said anything to him. About Steve, that is.

"You look freaked out about something, or nervous. Like you're afraid you're going to be shot up or something." I replied, flipping my bangs out of my face. It was about time I'd need a hair cut. Haven't cut it since Evan left and I was beginning to look like one of those emo boys.

"Nah, not freaked out." He grunted. I cocked an eyebrow. He was lieing. I knew he was. He never just...grunted out an answer before, not unless he was lieing.

"You're concerned about something Dad, I've known you for almost 14 years, I know when you're bluffing." I chuckled trying to mask my tone with humor. He stared at me for a second or so then finally sighed, shaking his head.

"You're relationship with Steve is starting to scare your mother." He spilt. I groaned and rolled my eyes.

"Dad,"

"I'm serious Darren, your relationship with that boy resembles two mountain goats bashing heads for dominance, and one of you is going to come out with a broken neck, my guesses, it'll be you. He's already almost killed you twice already." He explained, his forehead crinkled.

"Dad, Steve isn't going to kill me and he's not trying to kill me, ok?" I looked back at him, my lip curling up a bit. The very subject was irritating, but I knew they were just trying to look out for me. Still, it was annoying.

"He strangled you today!" he threw his hands in the air, hollering now. "Explain to me why he did that!"

"Because Mom kept telling him I wasn't home or I was busy for an entire year and he thought I was avoiding him!" I hollered back. I usually never raised my voice to my dad -or mom- but he had no reason to blame Steve for something she did. Not even if he is her wife.

"He smashed you in the head with a book even before that happened! He almost put you in a coma, Darren!" He snarled. "Explain that one!"

"Because I made out with Evan, Dad, get off of my God damn back and stop blaming my friends for stupid things!" I snapped, pulling away from the van. He stopped, the shocked look on his face stopping me in my tracks. Why did he look so petrified? What was it I said that shocked him so scared? Then I ran over the sentence in my head and choked a bit. Oh God, the shit was gonna hit the fan now.

"Darren...you...what?" He was quiet now. I didn't answer right away. What was I going to say? I had nothing I could say to throw him off that trail. Nothing witty came to mind, but the butterflies that were in my stomach at the mention of Evan began to flutter again. I rested my hand over it as if to calm them down.

"I..." I sighed and let my head drop. I had to repeat it. "I made out with Evan." I confessed. Here we go. I was going to be dishoned forever. I waited. Waited for the words that I had often heard in movies when things like this happened. I waited for the fated get the hell out of my house. Line.

"You...made out...with a boy." He repeated. I nodded once, my fists clenched so hard my knuckles turned white. "When?" He questioned again, his voice barely more than a whisper.

"Th-the night he spent the night." I swallowed. God I hated confessing. I hated telling him the truth, but I was just...so...horrible with lieing.

"Darren, I told you to tell us if he was pushing himself on you!" He raised his voice up slightly.

"It was me who made the moves." I replied, looking at him, my forehead crinkled. He choked, not expecting that. Well we had something in common. I hadn't been expecting it either.

"You kissed him first?" He replied. I nodded, feeling strangely fruitier than normal. I guess this would count as me coming out of the closet.

"Well...you...you two didn't do anything else...did you?" He questioned, seeming horrified. I shook my head. Jeesh, what did he think I was? A dominatrix hell bent on busting through people's back doors! "Good," He sighed in relief. Even that little sigh irritated me. "Now, I'll go inside and get your mother and sister ready and we'll head out. If we get to the Ferry tonight we'll only be awake for a few hours before we wake up." He coughed awkwardly and headed for the house before I could say anything. I sighed and closed my eyes, rubbing my forehead.

"Nice job loud mouth, anyone else you want to blab that to before you leave?" I groaned.

"Yeah, anyone else?" My eyes snapped open. Looking up I saw Steve comeing around the corner, a grin on his face.

"S-Steve!" I choked, my face feeling hot as I saw him. Oh God, how much of that had he heard?

"Hey Dare-bear, what kind of awful secret do you have that would make it look like you're about to be gunned down, huh?" He laughed and motioned he was gunning me down with a machine gun. "bang bang bang bang!" He shouted, then laughed, putting his hands down again.

"Uh...nothing." I groaned, biting my lip, trying to play it off like it wasn't important, but the downfall with being friends with him for so long is he could see right through my lies as if he were inside my head.

"Liar. Tell me." He demanded, a smile on his face.

"It's not important." I insisted, but he shook his head and pressed on.

"Darren, tell me." His smile started fading a bit, anger in his eyes.

"Nothing Steve, it's not important or anything you have to deal with ok?" I shoved my hands in my pocket.

"Tell me!" He barked, his smile completely gone. I stared at him shocked. Where the hell had that come from? What was wrong with him. He smiled again, laughing. Walking over he wrapped an arm over my shoulders -seeing how I was leaning against the van again, I was down low enough for him to do so. "Darren, tell me. You know we're friends, best friends, we can tell eachother anything." He smiled. I groaned, feeling awkward now after his outburst.

"I...rather not." I groaned. Suddenly pain rippled through my chest. I cried out a bit, falling against him, groaning through my teeth.

"Come on Darren, no need to feel bashful." He had his fingers pressed tightly around my right nipple, twisting. I growled lightly, trying to push his hand away but his fingers only dug harder and I felt my eyes watering.

"Steve, ouch stop." I begged. Laughing lightly he reached around and did the same thing with my other nipple. I hissed, my bottom on the back of the car, the only thing keeping me from falling was Steve and the step part of the back of the van. "Please Steve, stop...you know I hate these things!" I growled.

"Do you?" He laughed in my ear. "Tell me and I'll let you go." He sneered.

"Can't I just scream uncle?" I squeaked. He pulled, twisting farther. I cried out again.

"Now now Darren," He whispered, kissing the side of my head. "You like your nipples don't you?" I stopped, the kiss throwing me off. What the hell was wrong with him! "You tell me, and I'll let go, you keep refusing to tell me and well," He removed one hand and slammed it down the front of my pants. I choked, thrashing as his hand wrapped around it.

"I MADE OUT WITH EVAN!" I squealed. Suddenly he was gone. I found myself hitting the ground, the cement biting into my shoulders. I groaned, trying to keep my head from hitting the ground.

"What?" He snarled, standing over me. I coughed, looking up at him. He looked pissed off, his face red. "You...made out with him?" He snarled at me. I looked at him confused. Reaching down he grabbed the front of my shirt and hauled me off the ground. I cursed my being a lightweight. Slamming me against the back of the van he glared into my eyes, his upper lip curled up. "What else did you do with him dick head?" He growled.

"Wh-what?" My heart raced. Was he going to beat the hell out of me?

"What else did you do with him!" He shrieked.

"Nothing! Nothing we just kissed that's all!" I whimpered, not wanting to get into another fight with him. He was much better than me at fighting. I knew this first hand. His angered expression disappeared and he smiled as if he had been joking the whole time.

"That's wonderful Shan, because only I can do that kind of stuff to him." He replied. I had no idead what he was saying.

"D-do what stuff to him?" I squeaked. He smiled as if that were the whole set up, and the moment his face changed I regretted asking. Slamming his arm crossed my chest, he pinned my hands up and smiled.

"Curious Shan?" He laughed gently and reached down. "I'll show you, you'll love it." He snapped the button off my jeans, sending them to my knees. I gasped and tried to reach down and grab them, but my arms didn't budge. He continued to laugh a bit, my heart pounding under his arm. Reaching down he cupped his hand over my privates, moving his thumb down it. I gasped and squirmed against him, but he forced me back.

"Steve stop." I pleaded.

"Shut it Shan." He replied, the smile still on his face.

"Please, stop." I tried again. He sighed and grabbed a handkerchif out of his back pocket. Since when had he been carrying those around? But now wasn't a good time to ask that. Suddenly his fingers smashed into my lips, grinding them against my teeth. I gasped as my mouth was forced open, the cloth filling it up. His hand went back down and began rubbing again.

"You're too loud Shan." He laughed lightly. I felt heat rush over me, my friend reacting to Steve's touch. I let my head fall back against the van as I tried to struggle again. I felt my boxers get tighter, making me wince. He moaned lightly. "Look at that," He pulled the front of my boxers down, letting the cool wind swirl around it. I gasped, my head dropping so I could stare at it.

Grabbing it he chuckled and began to move it. I groaned, biting at the cloth, tears coming to my eyes. I was so embarrassed, and scared. I didn't want my parents coming out. Then I would have to apologize for being wrong and making mom cry. "Look at that," he dragged his thumb across the tip. Pleasure spiked through my hips. They bucked, a groan escaping my throat. He stopped, an evil sadistic grin on his face. He exchanged a look from my hips to my eyes again and laughed. "Oh shit Shan, you really like it don't you?" He laughed. "Here, how about I get you in a better position?" He pulled me away from the van and dragged me out back of the house. I stumbled, trying to get out away from him but for some reason, my strength failed me.

Getting me in the grass he shoved me to the ground. I managed to catch myself from hitting the ground and hitting my stomach, landing on my knees and hands. I was about to shove myself to my feet when his body came down on me. I went to growl at him but it came out sounding strangled, weak. It sounded like a moan. "Mmm Darren," his hand wrapped around my hair. He jammed my head down, ripping my hands out from under me, jamming my cheek into the ground.

Pressing his hips against mine he reached around and grabbed my shaft again, pumping a bit. I closed my eyes, trying to ignore it. If I ignored it then it wouldn't feel good right? Wait...is that what it was? Feeling good? But how? It was just a muscle! "Mmm, Evan liked it too," Steven grinned, starting to push his hips forward, making mine sway as he pumped me at the front. My forehead crinkled. I was not liking this at all. "He moaned and cried." He continued, starting to thrust harder. I panted.

Suddenly the back of my boxers were gone. I heard a zipping noise which force my eyes open. I squeaked, trying to look back but his hand held my head still. I whimpered. His hand left my front and the sound of him spitting made my instestines move. I felt dread as he made a slicking noise. Unfortunately, my thing didn't agree with my stomach or head. It was still hard as a rock, pulsing, wanting more.

A fleshy rod pressed to the entrance and I cried, begging for someone to come and stop him in my head, but it was too late. Pain rippled through me. My arms shot up, grabbing the grass below me. I screamed, my screams muffled by the cloth gag in my mouth. He moaned as I split apart even farther. I was on fire, pain increasing until he stopped moving. "Ooh Shan, you're so tight." He moaned, his words full of praise. I felt tears gush down my cheeks, drenching the grass beneath my face. His hand went back around to my cock.

Wrapping around it he began pumping it again, his palms lick with saliva. Pleasure shot through the front of my hips while pain flared in my bottom. "Relax and it won't hurt as much." Steve grunted sadistically. I whimpered, crying. Carefully I tried to relax, the pain starting to ease up. He rocked his hips a bit. With each rock a little wave of pleasure pushed at the base of my penis.

Pulling back a good way, he pushed back in, repeating the step. I moaned with every thrust, although most of it were moans of pain. He laughed and gave me a quick swat on the ass. "You little whore, listen to you moan." I cried out with the hit, squirming. I was breathing deeply, hoping he'd end soon. Suddenly with a hard thrust in, my vision blurred and I sank my fingers into the ground. I cried out, my chin getting wet. What the hell had that been?

"Mm, sees I found your sweet spot huh Dare-bear?" he taunted. "You want me to hit it again?" He leaned down, growling into my ear. His voice set fire to my brain, feeling a throbbing in between my legs. I shook my head, hoping he'd leave now, but he just chuckled and pulled back. "That's not fun." He slammed forward, hitting the same spot. I cried out again, the cloth starting to fall out of my mouth. He moaned, continueing his assult on that one spot. Every collision made my vision white. Before I knew it my mouth was empty. I didn't recognise a single thing out of my mouth anymore and everything he said was nothing more than a moan to me.

"Please Steve, more." I panted. "Ah! Steve!" I cried out, arching. He pounded harder, pain puddling in my stomach with each thrust. I cried. "I hate you," I choked. "I hate you you asshole!" A hot liquid filled me, setting out to put out the fire in my intestines. My vision blurred white and didn't fade back, pleasure pulsing out of me as my legs were drenched. I hit the ground. Panting I whirled around to hit him but saw he was gone once my vision came back. I sobbed, wiping at my eyes. Reaching back I touched the liquid that had come out on it's own. Pulling it up I looked at it up close. White and red. "Son of a bitch." I cursed, shaking. Pushing myself up, I pulled my pants up, sore from the intrusion but otherwise the front of me feeling good. No, great.

"I hate him." I muttered to myself, sniffling. Waiting to gain my compusure, I checked myself out in the window to the garage, making sure it didn't look to suspicious if I went in there with rosey cheek and tear stains on my face. I grimaced and sighed. Turning the hose on I drenched my head and face, washing the dirt and dried tears from my cheeks before turning it onto my knees and elbows. When I said I loved getting my elbows dirty this is not what I had in mind. Shaking my head I dried my hair off with a towel in the back of the van and headed inside with it.

"Darren, are you-" Mom stopped, looking at me shocked. "What the name of God happened to you?" My heart stopped. Don't tell me there was blood on my pants, or jizz on my shirt. "You're drenched!" She cried out. I sighed with relief, masking it with annoyance.

"Nothing mom, just got some dirt on my face, decided to use the hose. The van is packed, I'm ready to go." I replied, although I was hella tired, and would have liked to take a shower. But taking two showers a day for no reason would make her suspicious. I had to do without. Nodding she kissed my cheek and headed for the car. Dad and Annie followed.

Annie climbed in the back first so she could be near a window. She got car sick easily and needed to look at the road while we drove to keep her stomach calm. Carefully I climbed in as well, but seized up when I sat, my bottom hurting so bad. Mom stopped looking at me concerned.

"You ok hun?" She questioned. I nodded, forcing myself to sit down and get situated.

"Fine mom." Not pushing it any farther she buckled in. Pulling out of the driveway we headed down the road. Passing Steve's house I saw him in his bedroom window, watching the street. He smiled as we drove by, his hand pulling his penis out of his pants, shaking it at the car. My breath caught in my throat, my cheeks burning with embarassement. I hated him...I really, really did.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

((Sorry these short chapters, and sorry for not updating in a long time. Just dealing with some depression issues but I'm back and writing more :D Got inspired by Darren Shan's new book, "Birth of a Killer" starring my fave character in the world. Mr. Crepsley! I hope you still find these chapters even somewhat interesting, and pardon the future chapters for being kinda stupid. I wrote them a while ago.))

We got to the after spending quite a few days on the ship. It was nice, really. There were beds to sleep in and a TV to watch. Most of the time I spent just writing in my journal and talking to random passengers. Sitting on the deck by the van I doodled on some paper. A girl ran up and dove in between my legs, apologizing repeatedly. Grabbing for something she pulled away from me and looked under the van.

"Oh shoot!" She hissed. I had lifted my legs up shocked that she was randomly attacking them and just stared at her.

"Can I help you?" I questioned, my eyebrows furrowed. She stopped and looked up at me. She was a pretty little thing. Cuter than most models now a days. She had beautiful hazel eyes with strawberry blonde hair which looked like a light pink. For an outfit she wore a short skirt and a frilly top with a cardigan like jacket over it. She smiled apologetically, biting at her bottom lip. She nodded slowly and stood up.

"I'm looking for my pet, he got out of his cage and ran off. When I found him he was…well…heading this way. He's under your van and well…not coming out." He itched her head, seeming nervous. Nodding I stood up, putting my journal and drawing paper down. It wouldn't hurt helping a pretty lady out.

"What kind of pet is it? Ferret?" I asked climbing down on my knees, but what I saw wasn't a Ferret or anything cute and cuddly like that. It was this weird, long legged looking crab type thing with huge claws. I gasped and pulled away. "What the hell is that!" I squealed, pointing.

"It's an African cave spider." She replied, leaning down, her bottom in the air. She reached under and grabbed for it but it moved away from her. It was big enough to fit in the palm of your hand. "It's really called the Amblypygi which is a kind of arachnid. They're also known as Whip Spiders or Tailless Whip Scorpions." I looked at her and nodded. I'd never heard of them before, and they didn't look too much like spiders. Turning I headed into the van and grabbed a jar I came back out. Inside of it was a little spider I had caught out of the van. Kneeling down I opened the jar and dumped the spider out as close to the cave spider as I could. The little one sat there for a second before heading towards the opening unblocked by us, and sure enough the cave spider started after it.

Catching it, it started to prey on the little spider, eating it quickly. Smiling the girl picked up the spider and held it in her hand, letting her spider finish off it's meal in her hand. "It's kinda cute." I commented, watching it.

"Not a lot of people see it's actually a spider, and they find it to be very scary. But seeing how you were keeping a spider in a jar I see you're not afraid of them." She smiled at me, her light green eyes glistening a bit. "I do hope that wasn't your pet though." Her smile quickly faded to a look of worry. I shook my head, smiling.

"Nah, just a spider that was in the van, terrorizing my sister." I laughed. She smiled and carefully handled her spider. "I'm Aasera Nile by the way. You can call me Sera." She held a hand out to me. I smiled and took it.

"Darren, Darren Shan." I replied, shaking her hand. "Where you heading?" I questioned, hoping she'd be going close to where I was going. Well...she'd have to be if she was on this boat.

"Ah, I'm heading to the states, going to college. You know, the works." She laughed lightly, her giggle light and airy. It was nice. She seemed a lot prettier than most of the girls I've seen before.

"You with your parents?" I asked. She didn't seem much older than me, but when she frowned lightly she shook her head.

"No, I'm by myself I'm afraid." She smiled lightly. I frowned, my forehead crinkling.

"They weren't going to at least make sure you got to the school safely?" I imagined what it would be like if I were going to a college in a different country and my parents didn't at least see me off. I would feel awful. She shrugged a bit, playing with one of her spiders claws.

"Not that, my parents are dead." She replied, her voice soft. I felt my heart churn in my chest. A voice in my head barking stupid Darren! That was stupid!

"O-Oh, I-I'm sorry." I looked down. She smiled at me, her eyes forgiving.

"Don't be. They were bad people anyway. My mother was a druggy and my father committed suicide because he was tired of how horrible his life was. You know, the typical teenage house hold." She laughed. I forced a smile, not sure if she was being sarcastic just to make light of the situation of if she really believed that. "What about you? You going to the States for college?" She switched hands she was holding the spider with. I shook my head and leaned against the back of the van.

"Nah, going to Florida with my mom dad and sister." I looked at the spider as it hopped around a bit before settling down in the palm of her hand again. "Can I hold it?" I pointed. She looked down confused for a second then smiled, nodding.

"Of course." She held it out to me. Carefully I took it and watched it as it crawled around. "He is cute." I smiled, looking back up at her. "Does it have a name?" She chewed on her lip a bit and nodded.

"Yeah, his name is Bits." I laughed at the name. Bits, that was cute, but her confused look made me laugh harder.

"Sorry, Bits is just…I don't know. It's funny but cute at the same time, you know?" I snickered. She returned the laugh and nodded, shifting.

"It is cute." She ran a finger through her hair. Sitting we progressed to talk for a good four or five hours after that, talking about spiders and our hobbies. Comes to find out she was a violinist and played piano quite a bit when she was in high school. She had four boyfriends in her life. One she dated her best friend who was gay, the second she claimed she dated a loser who turned around and got his cousin pregnant after they broke up, then she dated someone over the internet for a while before she found out that wasn't going to work, and her last boyfriend moved to a different area because of his mom. He was heading to her place to propose to her when he got into a car accident and died. She's been single ever since.

Not wanting to seem like a dweeb who couldn't get a girlfriend I told her that I had one and I showered her with attention left and right and even beat up my best friend for her, but she called my bluff, laughing about it. Like I had said before, I was horrible at lying.

Mom and Dad came back to the van searching for me when it was time to have dinner and saw me sitting with Sera. Mom just grinned wickedly as she approached us, Dad on the other hand…didn't seem like he thought we were anymore than just friends. He probably thought I was a flaming homo hell bent on nothing but men.

"Darren!" Mom called out, heading over to us. I smiled and waved.

"Sera, this is my mom," I introduced her once they were close enough to us. "Mom, this is Aasera. She lost her spider earlier under our van and I got it back for her." I smiled. Mom grinned and then finally noticed it on Sera's leg and screamed.

"What is that!" She squealed.

"That would be the spider." I laughed.

"It's hideous!" She gasped, her hand covering her mouth. Sera smiled and picked him up, lifting him up for all of us to see.

"He's really adorable once you see him in action. He's being lazy right now. He's full from his dinner." She giggled.

"Oh! Sera, this is my dad, Dad, this is Sera." I quickly added in. Smiling Sera looked at him and bowed her head politely.

"Hello sir."

"Hello Sera, I see you've been keeping our Darren busy." He smiled in return. She laughed a musical little giggle and shook her head.

"Actually he's been keeping me busy. There's nothing more boring then sitting on a boat for a handful of days talking to yourself."

"Is it time for dinner?" I questioned, looking at them. I didn't want them to have a chance of embarrassing me in front of her. And I knew that because she was a cute girl mom would have to whip out her wallet soon and flash off pictures of me as a baby doing somersaults in the back yard naked, or when she caught me off guard on the toilet when I was 7.

She nodded, knowing what I was trying to do and winked as dad started speaking.

"Your friend here is welcome to join us if she wants." He opted. I smiled at Sera excited, hoping she'd agree but she shook her head gently.

"I'm sorry, I'm not that hungry right now, plus I have to get Bits to his cage before he gets away again." Standing she adjusted her skirt and bowed lightly to my parents before turning back to me, smiling. "You'll be here tomorrow, right? We can hang out then. And maybe we'll have some breakfast together?" She opted. I could feel my cheeks flush a bit as I nodded, smiling.

"Of course, if you want to that is." I leaned back a bit. She beamed then started for the cabin.

"Until tomorrow Darren." She waved over her shoulder. I smiled and pushed myself up, pushing my hands in my pockets, heading for the mess hall. My parents didn't say anything. No questions and no snappy comebacks. Of course Sera wasn't Steve, so they had no reason really to say anything.

Finding a table inside -Annie was sitting at it- I took a seat. I didn't say much for the meal, just ate hazily, thinking about how nice of a girl Sera was and hoping that we could be good friends after this until I remembered something. We couldn't be friends. After this trip, we'd never see each other…why did I always manage to become friends with the people who always left, or I could never be with in the first place?


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The final day on the Ferry was kind of a bummer. Waking up early in the morning, I made my way to the van. It was our own little hang out. It was away from other people and we could act how we wanted –not that we acted scandalous or anything. Sitting on a fold out chair I waited for her. It seemed to go by a lot slower than it really did. Minutes felt like hours as I tapped my foot. Finally giving up, I grabbed my diary and began to write in it.  
"You always have your head in that book every time I see you." A voice behind me caught my attention. I looked up and smiled as she claimed a fold out chair next to me.

"Hey," I greeted as she sat. She handed me a smoothie. It was one of my favorites, chocolate banana, cherry smoothie. It was actually her who introduced it to me while she had a mixed berry, Banana smoothie with Sprite. It sounded gross, but she insisted it was amazing. "Thank you." I smiled taking it, taking a sip of it.

"Well, we're almost at shore." She commented. She spoke with an accent, although it was hard to place which kind of accent it was. She seemed upset, itching behind her ear. She was wearing a zip up hoodie with a pair of short jean shorts. I leaned back, looking out over the water and nodded.

"Yeah…I feel like…we didn't really get to know each other." I hinted, wanting to know more about her. I had blabbed about me, but I knew nothing about her other than her mother was a druggy that died of drugs and her father killed himself.

"Well," she looked at me, smiling. "What do you want to know?" I inhaled thinking, then sighed. I didn't know where to start. She waited patiently, just smiling. Unable to find a good question to start off with, I shrugged my shoulders.

"Everything I guess." I looked down at my lap. She laughed lightly and nodded, leaning back as well.

"Ok, sounds fair enough." She crossed her legs, pulling out a small canister of crickets; she fed a couple to her spider –who she kept in its cage during feeding time. "Well, where to start." She sighed wondrously, then smiled. "Well, I was born in Russia. When I was 4 I went to an orphanage. I stayed in the orphanage till I was 6. I was adopted out by a woman by the name of Ellie Maria and her husband Jex. When Ellie died from a car accident her husband decided he couldn't deal with me and gave them to his sister. I grew up calling her mom. She was a druggy and only kept me to get welfare from me and social security." She pursed her lips, pulling her spider out of the cage.

"I thought you said your dad committed suicide? And if you were adopted by a Maria then why is your last name Nile?" I questioned, her story not adding up.

"Well, I got a letter in the mail saying my biological father committed suicide. I don't know what happened to my biological mom, and from what I know my adopted mom wasn't married. I kept the last name Nile, because that was my dad's name." she explained. I nodded, leaning back. Her life sounded horrible, how she managed to come out sounding so happy most of the time was beyond me. "After my mom committed suicide I decided that I'd stay on my own. I lived simply, no heat or electricity. I got a job and used the local computers at the local library for school work that required it." She smiled, looking at me. "And well, here I am, heading to the US to get my citizenship and to study. There I can make a proper life out of myself and maybe…just maybe, settle down and start a family of my own.

"But knowing my luck, I'll probably just end up a crazy cat lady with seventy cats, living in a cornfield in the middle of nowhere." She laughed. It was grim, but she was able to find humor in it. Smiling I looked up at the sky.

"Nah, I'm sure you'll be able to get far, I know you will." I replied. She was silent, staring at me. We were like that for a good hour or so, staring out over nothing, smiles on our faces. I didn't like the thought of having to part ways with her and never meet her again, but I had a gut feeling we'd see each other again.

CDF

Packing up the van again, I stood outside the van, my hands in my pockets. "Good luck," I bid, feeling sad that she was going. Smiling she reached forward, her hand cupping my face.

"I'll see you again Darren, I know I will." She pulled back. Reaching into her pocket she pulled out a small memo book and wrote something down in it. "This is my email address. Send me an email sometime and tell me how you're doing." She handed it to me. Taking it I looked at it, my cheeks turning red. There were little hearts all over the paper, her name written neatly in large cursive letters while her email was written in neat print lettering. Swallowing I nodded, smiling back.

"Here, I'll give you mine." I looked around for paper and cursed myself for stashing it away in my suit case. Laughing lightly she shook her head.

"Its fine Darren, I don't want to send an email at the wrong time, so I'll wait till you email me first." She smiled and stood there. Biting her lip a bit she turned. "I'll see you again soon Darren!" She waved at me. I waved back, feeling sad again. This was the second person who left me. The second person I found really interesting, someone I enjoyed being with, and they had to leave me. Sighing I climbed into the van and shut the door.

Grabbing my seat belt I buckled up and leaned back, my eyes closed.

"It's sad that she can't come with us huh?" Mom questioned as dad began to drive for the ramp, carefully departing. I nodded.

"Yeah, it sucks. She was actually interesting. Now I have to sit there and talk to Annie for the entire vacation." I grinned, picking a bit. Annie whipped her head around and whined.

"Hey!" She glared at me. Laughing I stuck my tongue out at her, getting her riled up. She screamed at me to stop, mom and dad laughing as we found the main road. I knew it was going to be a long trip. Better make the best of it, it was going to be quite a while before I got back home and had to deal with _Steve_.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The vacation had started out as kind of a drag. It rained for the first few days being there, but when it dried up, it was nice. We were in a condo overlooking a public swimming pool which was nice. The pool was closed to children after 8, but me being so tall I was able to pull off looking much older than 14. Mom and Annie would go to bed early, leaving dad and I to chill in the hot tub out by the pool as it started to rain. It was a warm rain, much warmer than at home and it was comfortable. The first day of the good weather hit and the first place we went to was the theme park. Animal Kingdom I believe it was. I couldn't remember half of what there was to do, that's how much fun it was. Down Town Disney was probably one of my favorite places though. Although it lacked in rides, there were a lot of things to watch.

A couple days before it was time for us to pack up in go home; I was standing down by the pool. It was dark, like 9:30 or so, Dad had gone inside to shower and get ready for bed. As I got out I grabbed my towel and wrapped it around me. A pamphlet fell to the ground with a clicking thud and rested at my feet. Quickly I bent down and scooped it up –getting it soaked would only make it difficult to read.

Lifting it to the lamp by the edge of the pool I read it out loud. "Welcome to the Cirque Du Freak: A world of Adventure and Mystery." My heart stopped. A pamphlet to the Cirque Du Freak? I looked at where it was being held and memorized it. Grabbing my stuff I ran to the condo, careful not to crush the little lizards that littered the sidewalks. Running up the steps I stopped out the door and caught my breath. Arriving flushed and panting would make my parents ask questions, and what would I tell them? What _could_ I tell them?

Once breathing normal I pushed the door to the condo open and walked in, drying off. There was a map of the roads and shops around the area that came with the condo. Walking over I looked around, noting mom and dad in the kitchen, the shower running. "Annie in the shower?" I asked, forcing a disappointed tone out. They nodded, sipping on some coffee standing by the sink.

"Yeah, she might be in there a while." Mom replied, shooting me an apologetic look. I shrugged and sat at the bar. I stared at the counter for a second, making it seem like I was bored. Reaching forward I grabbed the road map and opened it, making it seem that I was just looking through it for something to do, all the while repeating the address in my head.

Finding the address I stopped on it and saw that the Cirque was being held in a building that had burnt down recently. It was about a thirty minute walk from condo, but it would be worth the trek. Closing the book I stood and headed for my bedroom. "Mom, do you think I could have some money?" I asked, closing my door most of the way.

"Sure honey, what for?" She questioned from the kitchen.

"I found a cool shop downtown that I want to stop by tomorrow so I can pick some stuff up for Alan." I lied. I wanted money to buy stuff from the Cirque, but she didn't need to know that.

"Ok, I'll give it to you tomorrow. Would you like to use the shower in our room?" She questioned, the sound of her coffee cup clinking against the metal in the sink.

"Nah, it's good. I'll just head to bed. Night mom." Pulling my clothes off I hung them up to dry out on the balcony and got into my pjs. Heading back into my room I closed the door and shut the light off. I listened to them talk for a while, wondering why I was so eager to go to bed all of a sudden, dad saying something along the lines of I was excited for tomorrow to come, then everything went silent as I fell asleep, my dreams filled with the images of the exotic Cirque, and Steve's face when I told him I went and saw the Cirque for a _second_ time.

CDF

The anticipation was too much for me. As the date for the Cirque drew closer, I began to get antsy. Finally the day came. But there was a problem. How was I supposed to get out? I couldn't sneak out the window like I did at home, but yet again, we were in a Condo. The walls were thick and I could always sneak out the front door.

Getting dressed I grabbed the map and slipped my shoes on. Carefully –and as quietly as I could- I snuck from my room, through the kitchen and to the door. Gently opening it I closed it, the door clicking loudly. I winced and waited for the door to fly open and mom to come rushing out, asking what I was doing, but nothing happened. Checking to make sure I had the correct Condo key I turned and headed towards the stairs that lead to the front of the complex. Pulling my map out I checked the path and ran, my heart pounding in excitement in my ears.

When I got there, I stopped and noticed that it was an old abandoned building. It looked to be a theater, or a museum that had gone out of business. Inhaling I walked forward, my hand dishing out the money in my pocket. Sure enough, standing by the door was one of those little creatures. Stopping I smiled and handed him the pamphlet to show him I was supposed to be there. It took the pamphlet and handed me a ticket, his hand outstretched for money. Exchanging some money for a ticket, I headed on inside but was stopped by a tall, dark, looming figure.

"Welcome back." The man smiled, his black teeth sparkling a bit. "You enjoy our show last time?" I swallowed, still feeling nervous around him.

"Y-yeah, it was amazing. I can't wait to see what kind of line up you have now." He smiled as I squeaked. "Do you still have the performing spider?" I quickly blurted before he turned his back on me to head inside.

"Why don't you wait, and find out?" He grinned, then vanished into the darkness. The walkway on the inside of the doors lit up with torches mystically. I stared in awe, a feeling in my gut telling me I shouldn't go in, but my feet seemed to move on their own.

Heading inside I followed, I spotted a small garden snake slither across the floor. I gasped and jumped back, taken aback a bit, but when it stopped and propped itself up, I realized that maybe…maybe it was a part of the act?

I took a step forward and it started down the hall again. Following it I saw it slip under two large double wide doors. Reaching out I pulled the doors open and there, every seat in the house full, was the stage. I smiled, my heart fluttering. I walked forward, my eyes taking in everything. I felt like I was at home watching it in the theater.

Finding a seat up front I sat down and waited. Once everyone got there who was supposed to be there, the lights dimmed and everyone settled down. The Cirque owner came out –I couldn't remember if he told us his name or not- and smiled, stretching out his arms as if expecting to embrace the crowd.

"Ladies, and Gentlemen. Children, and adults," He looked out over the crowd, his voice silencing everyone. "Humans, and freaks alike. Welcome, to the Cirque Du Freak!" Everyone cheered, including me, hooting and hollering. "I," He spoke again, everyone settling down. "I am Mr. Tall, your host for tonight." He grinned and looked at me. "And oh do we have a wonderful line up for you tonight. I must tell you now, ahead of time, I am not held responsible for the injuries, or death you might sustain tonight, so if you are easily frightened, or have any phobias, or fear death or bodily harm, leave now." He waited. Nobody got up. They just looked around like they were expecting someone to get up and leave, but when no one did he clasped his hands together and grinned. "Good, now, shall we start?" Again the crowd cheered.

We went through the first act which was the Wolf-man. He did his usually stuff; only this time, no one was attacked. Next were the twins, Sive and Seersa. A new woman came out though, a smile on her face. Standing in front of us she turned and opened her mouth.

"Hello everybody." She spoke. Her voice was Russian sounding. She was gorgeous with short, shoulder length black hair. She wore a Native American looking bikini –the cloth that Native Americans would use for their clothes and decorated the same way- with leather chaps and cowboy boots. It seemed weird. I wondered what she was going to do. "My name is Crisian." She smiled. In the back a man screamed something that pissed me off.

"Take your top off!" he hollered, his friends laughing.

"Grow up!" I snarled. The others laughed, even the freak on stage.

"Piss off you little ankle biter!" He shouted back. "Not everyone can be a fag like you!"

"Shut up!" Crisian stepped in. "Sir, if you do not keep quiet and let me move on with my act I will kill you myself." She growled her eyes narrow and serious. He kept quiet, everyone falling silent as well. Smiling she shifted, her arms crossing. "Now, seeing how my little knight in shining armor came to rescue me, how about he come up and join me on stage." She looked at me, winking. I swallowed. I was doomed. I didn't want to be called out in front of everyone! "Come now, don't be shy." She motioned me up. Come on Darren! How many people can sit there and say they got to participate in a _freak show_?

Shakily I stood up and climbed up on stage. The lights were hot on my back as I joined her. Reaching forward she smiled and lightly grabbed my shoulder. "What's your name darling?" She questioned. I choked, everyone eyes on me. I didn't think I was going to speak. Then Steve's face passed through my mind and I smiled. I got to tell him I was part of the act! That I was called on stage and he wasn't!

"Darren." I replied. She smiled.

"Ooo, Darren huh? I had a boyfriend named Darren about 10 years ago. He was quite a looker. Strong, handsome, and big, if you know what I mean." She laughed lightly. The crowd whooped for a bit as my face flared up. Signaling for everyone's silence, she turned back to me. "Ok Darren, I want you to reach your hand into my mouth and grab a key, which is shaped like this." She held up a key, the end of it a spiked ball. I looked at her shocked, but before I could protest, she opened her mouth up, unhinging her jaw. Everyone started shouting for me to do it. Biting my lip, I closed my eyes and reached forward, putting my fingers into her mouth first.

Her tongue squirmed around them teasingly, causing the heat in my cheeks to flare up all over again. Carefully I pushed my hand forward and into her throat. She didn't even so much as gag as I continued pushing my hand in. First up to my wrist, then half way up to my elbow, elbow and before I knew it, I had my whole arm in her stomach. I grimaced as slime wrapped around my arm. I could feel it pulsing and constricting around my arm, then loosening again.

It was a few seconds before my fingers slid across the ball of the key. Grabbing it I slowly pulled my arm out with the key. Removing my arm completely I looked at the object and saw that it wasn't a key, but was in fact a book mark. A solid gold book mark with a ball on one end. Everyone was silent through the act, but was now cheering loudly. "Congratulations." She spoke, her voice not affected by it at all. "Take that, darling, as a parting gift." She winked.

"Th-thanks." I stuttered, as she led me off stage and back to my seat. From then on out she finished up her act where she pulled her lower intestine out of her stomach and used it as a lasso. After she was up Gertha Teeth was next, then Rhombius Twobellies. The lights fizzled out, everything pitch black. The room got cold, my heart pounding.

"Keep very quiet." Mr. Tall's voice spoke out over the murmuring of the crowd. Everyone fell silent and listened. Something slithered over my foot, causing me to jump a bit, looking down.

"Ssscare you?" A voice whispered in my ear, sounding snakish. I stiffened up, feeling a pair of legs brush up against mine. I couldn't see a thing, but the voice…it sounded so familiar. The lights flickered on and right in front of me, a large boa constrictor wrapped around his shoulders, was the snake boy. He looked gorgeous; his hair feathered a bit, his face inches from mine, his large gold eyes peering into mine. Everyone gasped. He pulled back and smiled, his scales shimmering in the light. "Scared?" The boy asked, noting how stiff I was. A flood of snakes came from the back, slithering all around the theater. People started screaming. "Wimps," the boy whispered.

I felt mesmerized as the boy watched the chaos as people jumped over their seats to escape the tidal wave of snakes. His eyes weren't even on me. Reaching forward, I gentle dragged my fingertips across his scales. His flesh jumped a bit, his eyes sparking, shooting to me as my fingers glided from his collar to his hip. He exhaled hard, his eyes hard on me, his jaw tight. I couldn't read his expression, but the slits in his eyes dilated. Suddenly a smile snaked across his face. A twisted smile as he stepped forward so my hand was against him completely. "Go ahead, stroke me some more, if your heart desires." He grinned wildly. All over again I felt my face flush with heat. Laughing he pulled away, removing his snake from his shoulders. "You're the first crowd member to ever touch me. Cherish that." Jumping up on stage he turned and whistled. All of the snakes stopped and rushed back to him.

The rest of the snake boys act was his manipulation of the snakes, then he was off. Immediately after was the performing spider, Madame Octa. Just like before I was entranced. I knew from the moment she started performing that I needed her. I had to have her. And perhaps, if I ever met up with Sera again, I could show Madame Octa to her. I absolutely…_needed _her.

The show ended with a closing from the snake boy, then everyone got up to leave. I followed them out. My eye caught a door off to the side. Carefully I slipped out of the crowd and in through that door. I found that it was another hallway that lead to another part of the building. It lead in behind the stage which was perfect. But, I knew I couldn't go and get her just yet. I needed to wait until the crowds died down. I would wait for the crowd to die down, then sneak towards wherever she's being held, take her and run. I'd tell my parents I bought her from a vendor and he won't take her back. Then I could rub it in Steve's face that while he raped me and Evan, I got to see the Cirque du Freak again, touch the snake boy, be apart of an act _and_ I had the poisonous spider! God he was going to be so jealous!

I waited, and hour and a half passing, I slipped back into the darkness, making my way down the hall. Spotting a door I opened it only to find a huge room with a coffin on the inside, the spider in a box on a table. I smiled, my heart racing. Walking forward I carefully leaned down, looking at Madame Octa closer. "Hi Madame." I whispered. Carefully I picked up the box and looked over at the coffin. I wasn't sure if he was in there or not, but I didn't want to find out either. Holding the box carefully I made my way through the room to the back door and slipped through it. I found myself out on the stage. Stopping I looked around, being careful so as not to be caught, listening carefully.

Nothing. Smiling I moved forward quickly and jumped off the stage. Whirling around I put the cage on the stage and looked at the whistle. It was linked up so that I had to open the cage to get it. Unlatching the door I slipped the key out but a slithering noise stopped me dead in my tracks, the whistle still in my hand.

"What do you think you're doing?" A hiss sounded behind me. "You're not supposed to be here right now." It was the snake boy, but he didn't sound angry, he sounded confused, just curious. Turning I saw him standing in the aisle between rows of chairs. He looked at me for a second then gasped once he saw what I had. "What do you think you're doing!" He ran forward. Grabbing my shirt he pulled me away from the stage, spinning me a bit. "You're stealing a poisonous spider?" He screeched at me. I stared at him horrified, my heart racing.

"I-I…n-no I…I just wanted a closer look at her." I lied, stuttering.

"You could have asked! Mr. Crepsley's going to kick your ass so hard you'll be shitting the soles of his shoes for a month!" He cried out, turning back to the spider. Walking over he opened the cage and stopped, stiffening up. "Where is she?" He whispered. He turned on me, his eyes wide with fear. "Where is she?" He whimpered.

"I..I don't know, she…she's not in there?" I pointed.

"Of course she's not in here! I wouldn't have asked if she was!" He screeched at me angrily, fear still obvious in his voice. "Where is she!" He screamed, suddenly he stopped, his head dropping. On his leg was the furry spider. He gasped, staring at her. Carefully he leaned down to try and gently pick her off, but it was too late. As if seeing what he was planning, she slammed her fangs into his leg and jump. The snake boy shrieked, hitting the floor. I gasped and ran forward to help him anyway I could, but it was too late. He curled up, losing consciousness.

I rested my hand on him, my heart pounding so hard I could feel it in my teeth. Looking at the spider, I quickly grabbed her and threw her into the cage, slamming it shut. I didn't know what to do, and I was panicking. I couldn't just leave and not get him help, but at the same time, I knew that if I did run to find help, I was going to be killed! I paced, pulling at my hair. Suddenly I saw a snake slithering off back stage, into the darkness. I stared at the darkness for a minute or two before a figure showed up. I gasped and cried, cradling my head. I was dead. I was so dead.

"What is going on in here?" The man with the red hair and scar came out. He looked at Madame Octa then at me and glowered. "You, what do you think you are doing?" He snarled. Then it clicked and he stomped forward. Grabbing the cage he swept the spider and the cage up and under his arm. "You were trying to steal her!" He snarled.

"Please, she…sh-she bit," I choked, my face drenched. I felt like a pansy, but I didn't mean anyone to get hurt from it.

"What?" He boomed. "She bit someone?" He looked at me shocked, fear in his eyes. He stopped and looked to the floor, and gasped. "Evra!" He jumped off the stage and scooped him up into his arms. "What happened!" The man growled viciously.

"I-I," I stuttered more, trying to calm down enough to tell him what happened. "I..I wanted Madame Octa, so…so I was going to take her and leave, but he stopped me and she got out, and he was screaming at me so she attacked him." I choked. "C-can you help him?" He sighed and stood up, picking the boy up.

"The antidote I have is made for humans, not his kind. I will have to travel to get an antidote for him made specially." Heading for the spare room with the coffin he growled. "Follow." Not hesitating I jumped up onto the stage and ran after him, following. Opening the lid to the coffin, he laid the snake boy in the coffin and laid him down.

"I…I hope you can save him." I looked at the coffin, biting my lip. The man turned on me, his forehead crinkled.

"Me?" He snorted. "I am not going by myself! You are going with me." He replied. My heart skipped a beat.

"What? I can't! I have to get home! I don't live here! I have to get back to my parents so we can get ready and leave the day after tomorrow!" I cried out distressed.

"You should have thought about that before you stole my spider!" He snarled back. "You have no choice! Take responsibility for your actions!" He turned and put the spider back on the end stand. "Besides, you will be handy for when I cannot move around in the sunlight." He muttered, getting his stuff ready.

"What do you mean?" I asked, feeling as if I were going to cry again. "What kind of freak are you?" Turning he looked at me seriously and sneered.

"What do you mean what am I? It is obvious what I am. I cannot go out in sunlight, I sleep in coffins." He shouldered a bag. Pulling out a small vile he dripped it into the bite mark on the snake boys leg. I thought about it for a second, then stopped, remembering the creatures in Steve's old comic books.

"A vampire."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

We left immediately. Although I was afraid, I was also mourning for my own loss. My parents were going to be searching for me. They would come and look for me and chances are they'd come across the Cirque. What was I going to do? How long was this going to take?

"We will stop here for tonight." Mr. Crepsley replied, sitting down on the ground, dropping his bag on the ground. We were in the woods. We'd been walking for possibly 5 hours now and my feet were dead tired. Plopping down I pulled my knees to my chest and stared at him as he started making up a fire.

"I'm sorry." I whispered.

"You should be. Back when I was little, if you were to steal, you would get your hands chopped off." He replied, getting the fire nice and tall. "But now it is not the time to sulk. We must go and find medicine for Evra. If I were not in my right mind I would sign you into contract with Hibernius and you would be Evra's slave after what he went through. You basically owe him your life." He tossed a stick into the fire. He wasn't angry anymore. He hadn't been for quite a while, but I got a vibe that he was still.

"I'm hungry." I grumbled, my stomach growling. He looked at me but didn't say anything. I didn't look up. I didn't want to. He was staring at me as if I were some kind of…_freak_. Well…that's the way it felt to me.

"It is almost day time, go find us some food." I looked at him shocked as he lay backwards on the ground, his arms behind his head.

"Me go find food? We're like…in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night!" I snapped. "You're the vampire! Why don't _you_ go find us food!"

"Because in 3 hours the sun will be up and besides, who is the one who stole my spider!" He snapped back, sitting up.

"So you're going to make me your bitch? I stole the damn spider ok? I said I was sorry, and I'm even letting you abduct me to go find an antidote to give to the snake boy! I'm not a vampire; I don't know how to do whatever you vampires do! I don't know where to get food so get off my back!" He growled.

"It is not that hard to find food! We are surrounded by trees, and bushes in the middle of _Florida_! Land of oranges, and berries and crabs! We are near the ocean! I knew how to catch crabs when I was 10!"

"Well then you go and get some damn crabs!" Snarling I stood up.

"You are completely hopeless, useless child!" He stood up as well and grabbed my arm. He started pulling me through the woods, not caring if I trip, dragging me so that I wouldn't fall when I did. Getting to the edge of the ocean he let me go and stomped forward. "Watch!" he snarled. Pulling his cloak off he kicked off his shoes and pulled his pant legs up to the knees. I crossed my arms, trying to pull off the pain from my already bruising limb as anger. He stood for a second in the water then lashed out and grabbed up a couple crabs, throwing them onto the beach.

Gasping I raced forward and scrambled to grab them before they headed back in the water. Over judging my lunge I missed by an inch and ended up on the beach. A wave came up and smashed down on top of me, making me drenched. My ears popped as the water rushed, pulling at me, trying to pull my pants down. Grabbing them I shoved myself up the best I could. The moment the water cleared my head I heard cackling. A booming laughter that irritated me.

I whirled around and glared at the red headed vampire, now in stitches still in the water. I coughed and grabbed a rock, whipping it at him. He dodged it, laughing harder. "You are a pathetic boy are you not?" He laughed, shaking his head, wiping tears from his eyes.

"Shove off jerk." I coughed, shaking my head, shaking the water from my hair.

"Come here," He replied, finally gaining his composure.

"Why? So you can laugh at me more?" I shot at him, glaring. He laughed shaking his head.

"No, there will be no more laughing." He signaled me over. I hesitated, then walked over, grumbling.

"You just did."

"Do not sulk." He commented as I joined him by his side, not caring if my pants or shoes got wet seeing how they were already drenched. "Now, hold this in a hammock like shape." He removed his shirt and handed it to me. I stared at him, his chest was hairless and thick with muscle, but his body didn't look half as old as his face. He stared at me as I stared at his chest, tracing over scars with my eyes. He coughed, catching my attention. "I do not swing that way." He replied. My breath hitched in my throat. Lashing out I ripped his shirt out of his hand and snarled.

"I'm not gay!" He laughed again and shook his head, his eyes rolling a bit.

"No? Then I will pretend you were looking through me rather than at my chest." He crouched again, readying himself to catch more food.

"You're no where close to being my type, even if I was gay." I muttered, holding the shirt so it could easily be wrapped up and tied off. "You're too haggard."

"Watch it," he replied seriously. "you are in hot water as it is, you do not want to anger me."

"Oh yeah? What will _you_ do about it?"

"I will rip your tongue out of your mouth." He snatched a crab out of the water and tossed it into the shirt. I wrapped the shirt up to keep it from escaping until he caught another. After ten or fifteen minutes he'd caught 11 crabs and a jelly fish. I grimaced as he pulled it out, hissing.

"That's a jelly-fish." I replied, looking at it as it laid in the shirt.

"You do not think I know that?" he snapped, pushing his hand to his mouth.

"You didn't know it was there?" I cocked an eyebrow. "I knew it was there and I wasn't even the one grabbing for them."

"If you think you are the master hunter you catch them next time!" he growled, turning and heading back up on shore, still sucking at the burn on his hand. I found myself grinning at his pain. He deserved it. He was an idiot. Returning to the fire he pulled out collapsible pots and put the crabs in and washed the Jellyfish before throwing it into a pan.

"You're not going to kill it first?" I winced as he threw it into the pan. He stopped and looked at me and shook his head, his eyes narrow.

"Why?" He replied, moving it around.

"Well, it's kinda gotta hurt burning to death." I muttered, looking at the sizzling jellyfish.

"They do not have a central nervous system, therefore, they cannot feel pain." He replied, preparing it specially.

"Why are you preparing them like that?" I questioned after watching him for a few minutes.

"Vampires cannot eat certain creatures, it is poisonous to us." He replied, checking on the crabs. "And do not think about it. Even if you do poison and manage to kill me you will never find your way back to your parents without my help." He flashed me a look. I snorted and laid down, rolling away from him.

"Like I'd waste my breath attempting to kill _you_." He was silent for a bit then spoke.

"You know, you owe Evra your life." he replied. I rolled over, looking at him. "Not to mention attempting to steal a major part of the Cirque's act. You should pay reparations for that." He looked down as he divided up the jellyfish and crabs.

"What kind of reparations?" I asked, my forehead crinkling.

"Spending time with the Cirque." He looked at me. I looked at him shocked, my heart racing. The _Cirque_? After stealing from them, he was offering me a place _among _them? "Of course, you would have to work for them forever, and that could get boring. No sightseeing, no leaving." I frowned.

"Mr. Tall doesn't let the freaks sight see?" I questioned. He snickered and shook his head.

"They do not want to. What is there to see? When you are a freak, who will accept you?" He looked at me again. "But I have another offer for you." he put the crab he was shelling off to the side and crossed his arms across his bare chest.

"What offer is that?" My forehead crinkled.

"You become my assistant. You can spend whatever time you wish with the Cirque, and when you are tired of that life, we will leave and travel." He offered.

"What if I said I don't want to do either? If I said I wanted to go home and spend the rest of my life with my parents?"

"And what will you tell your friend Leonard?" He stared at me hard. My heart skipped.

"How do you know Steve?" I growled.

"He begged me not too long ago to turn him, but I refused him." He stopped and looked at me. I didn't notice that I was panting out of anger, my face hot. His very name was angering me. I was so pissed at him still for that..._rape_. So that's why he was turning into a little pissy bastard! Because he begged a _Vampire_ to turn him into one? "You do not seem to like him much," the vampire commented, his voice soft. "What did he do?"

"None of your damn business!" I snarled. "What happens between me and my friends isn't your damn business!"

"You make it sound like you engaged in something illegal." He pressed.

"Get off my back!" I stood up, starting to stomp away, tears coming to my eyes. He followed me.

"It cannot be as bad as you are making it out to be if it is nothing illegal." he replied, following a few steps behind. I whirled around, finally snapping.

"He raped me!" I shrieked. "Ok? Are you happy now I freaking told you what happened! He raped me and it's your fault he's acting this way!" I was crying again. I cursed myself, feeling like a 13 year old girl. He looked at me shocked, his expression softening.

"So it was a good thing I did not blood him." He replied, crossing his arms. "I did not blood him because he simply has bad blood. Evil blood." he replied, looking at me. "And he has proven it to me by what he did to you." His voice was gentle, although perfectly audible.

"What are you going on about?" I hissed.

"He begged me to blood him, but his blood was bad, so I denied him. He did what he did not just because of me, but because his blood is foul." He looked at me. "Do you want to return home to that?" He questioned, his voice concerned. I fumed for a bit then sighed, shaking my head.

"No, I don't want him to do that again." I crossed my arms, rubbing them to stay warm. I was starting to dry off, but not fast enough now that I wasn't near the fire. "And well...my family will just accuse me of not listening to them again." I looked away, imagining what it'd be like if I told them what happened. They'd never let me out of the house as long as I lived. I'd be home-schooled and my father would most likely disown me even more than he already has once he found out I made out with a boy.

"Your friends?" He pressed. I groaned.

"They're all turning into dicks as well. Supporting _Steve_." I sneered the name. "My only real friend left a year ago to travel the world with his father." I muttered. His eyebrows rose a bit as he looked at me.

"Your friend? Who is that?" he questioned.

"Evan Rider," I replied. His face warped a bit, then settled back into a blank one. "I...well...we got along." I coughed, shifting. I tried to fight against the bright shade of pink my cheeks turned.

"_Friends_? You say that coyly." He smirked, crossing his arms.

"We were just friends." I snapped. He laughed lightly and nodded.

"Of course. Now tell me. Would you rather stay with your family and deal with their problems, graduate from high-school and settle down getting married and never meeting _Evan_ again, or would you like to travel the world, seeing new sights and meeting new people and having a chance to meet your _friend_ again." He grinned.

"We're just friends!" I pressed, glaring at him. He nodded and continue smiling.

"Of course." I thought about it. I really didn't see myself going too far now. I didn't want to be near Steve. My parents were starting to hinder me, the only one I'd miss was Annie, but even she was starting to anger me to the point of no return. So think Darren. A human who would suffer through a life time of misery and petty arguments? Or become a vampires assistant and travel the world and meet new people and what not? Truthfully, I didn't know what I wanted to do

"I...don't know yet." I replied, looking down at the ground. He nodded and turned looking out over the trees. The sun was almost up, rising still. His skin was beginning to turn red in the light. He looked at me once more.

"I will give you until I wake up to think about it. If you have not chosen to be my assistant until then, I will let you go home free. There is no need for you to follow me to get the antidote," he turned, heading back for the woods. The fire was set up near an old abandoned shed like structure. "I will tell Mr. Tall you escaped me and I let you free and when Evra asks of you, I will tell him that you have gotten away also. And you can go about your life the way you want." He looked back at me, his eyes full of seriousness and sincerity. "And, i am sorry about what he did to you." He hesitated, then turned, disappearing into the darkness of the shed.

I stared at the door for a long time and sighed, heading back to the fire. I took a seat and thought about it. I really had no more friends since Evan left. Alan and Tommy barely spoke to me anymore, and Steve was such an asshole it wasn't even funny. But the thought of meeting Evan again put a smile on my face, and so did seeing the world. But I had to give up my family and school. Well, I didn't mind school, I hated that place now anyway. But my family?

I'd never be able to see them again, I think. Grabbing a stick i threw it into the fire to get it going again. But then there was Sera. I could see her again as well. I smiled at the thought. And I could travel with the Cirque, and possibly even become friends with the snake boy. Although he probably would shoot me down for almost killing him.

Laying back, I looked up at the sky and thought. I didn't see the problem in it really. It's not like I felt very welcome in my life as it is now. At least...not the right kind of welcome. And hey, it was another way I could one up Steve. _Guess who became a vampires assistant and you didn't?_


	12. Chapter 12

**Note: Sorry it took so long to write this, I'm juggling between this story, two Scott Pilgrim stories and another Cirque Du Freak. Please be patient with me :3 thank you so much for any of you following this story! :D**

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Chapter 12

The sun started going down at around 7 -according to my digital, waterproof watch. It was almost time for the vampire to get up. Standing I headed towards the shack. Opening the door I saw that it was pitch black. Probably a preferred spot for a vampire.

Shutting the door I waited for my eyes to adjust before venturing in any farther. There were boarded up windows. Rays of light barely came in through the crack. I looked up at the cieling for him. It was sad, school boy Darren Shan having to wake up a _Vampire_. Stepping forward, I looked everywhere for himm. Hopefully he wasn't hiding up in the rafters.

Suddenly my foot collided with something. I hit the floor. Whatever it was I had tripped on was huge and covered in cloth. Oh man, what if it was a dead body? Whirling around I stared at the lump in the middle of the floor with wide eyes. It shifted, groaning.

"What...are you doing?" A deep voice groaned. Was...was that Mr. Crepsley?

"M-Mr. Crepsley?" I whispered, shaking a bit. How had he ended up on the floor? Was he attacked?

"Who else do you think it is?" He sat up, looking at me with narrow eyes. Although it was pitch black in there, I could still see his eyes perfectly.

"Why are you on the floor?"

"Why else would I be on the floor? I was sleeping." he replied, sounding irritated. "Why do you think I would be on the floor?"

"Well...maybe you were attacked? I mean, aren't vampires supposed to sleep on the cieling? In bat form?" he stopped, staring at me. He started laughing, the shed filling up with his cackling. I stared at him, quickly getting irritated. Why was he laughing?

"We do not turn into bats, Darren." He hooted, wiping at his eyes. Vampires do not turn into bats, they do not turn into spiders, they cannot phase through walls or anything of that nature. We are not shape shifters, Garlic does not hurt us, crosses do nothing for us."

"But...what about a stake through the heart?"

"Of course that kills us, but so do bullets, or being electrocuted." He crossed his arms. Looking up he sniffed the air. "The sun is going down. I guess it is time for me to get up anyway. Although I could have been granted another hour or so without rudely being kicked in the face." He stood up, brushing himself off. "Anyway, did you decide?" Looking up, I nodded, pushing myself to my feet.

"Yeah, I decided." He looked at me, nodding. Turning he headed for the door.

"Good, tell me over breakfast." He replied. I cocked an eyebrow, following him.

"Breakfast? Wouldn't it be dinner?"

"By which one of our clocks? Mine or yours?" Stepping through the door he stretched, his body quivering at the height of his stretching. Letting his arms fall to his sides he itched the scar on his cheek. "Is there any food left?" He questioned. I nodded and headed over to the fire.

"If you want I could quickly whip together a stew or something." I replied, pulling some crab out of the pot.

"Do you know how to cook stew?" He sat down. I shot him a look.

"I'm not stupid."

"I did not say you were." He crossed his legs, getting the fire roaring again. "I was just simply asking if you knew how to make a nice, thick, flavorful stew, and not a watered down soup." I stopped. The only time I made stew; it came out flavorless and watery. I remember it was pretty bad. Grunting I stopped, rubbing my forehead.

"Actually...it...it was pretty gross." He laughed lightly and shook his head.

"Alright, then I will teach you how to make stew. Make sure you pay attention." He stood up, signaling me to follow. I followed him into the woods where we liberated some herbs and vegetables from a person's personal garden. After that we headed down to the ocean again picking up some more meat like ingredients and then headed back. "Now," He sat down again removing his collapsible pot that he'd washed down by the ocean. "Whenever you wash pots in the ocean, remember do not scrub for a long amount of time, the salt will corrode the metal over time and damage them. If they have Teflon scrub even less or else the Teflon will peel."

He placed the pot on the fire and poured some water from a large container he pulled out of his bag.

"What else do you have in there?" I asked curiously. He stopped and stared at me, saying nothing. I started to feel self-conscious the more he stared until he eventually broke the silence.

"None of your business." He replied putting his large container of water to the side and blanching the fish and things he couldn't eat straight. I frowned and sat back, my arms crossed. He didn't look at me, instead he threw the salt water shrimp, jellyfish and crab into the pot. "Do not pout." He commented.

"Who's pouting?" I replied slightly bitter.

"That is a very good question. And I take it I have three guesses, the first two do not count?" He stopped and finally looked at me. "First you boil the meats. Do not drain them, that is where most of the flavor will come from."

"I hate seafood." I muttered.

"Then do not eat. But you better pay attention because although you may not eat it, you will prepare it for me." He then threw the vegetables in. In a separate container he added a small bit of white colored powder from a bag he had been carrying around with him.

"What's that?" I asked as he slipped it into the smaller bit of water and stirred, letting it dissolve.

"What do you think it is?" He questioned, putting it away.

"I don't know, it could be a lot of things, like crack." I commented. He stopped moving all together. I didn't even think he was breathing. Slowly he looked up at me, and straightened up.

"Mr. Shan." He started his voice low. "Are you by any chance engaged in illegal activities? Because if you are, I do not want to deal with your addictions and I will not risk being caught up with the human law force because you cannot break your bad habits." I had no idea what he was talking about. I looked at him then at the bag of white powder confused. Then it hit me. I gasped and growled in return.

"I'm not a crack head! Do I look like I do drugs?"

"No, but usually when someone pulls out a bag of white powder other things come to mind before an illegal substance. Like Flour, or corn starch, sugar or salt. Baking soda or powder, but usually not _crack_, as you humans like to call it now." He replied putting the bag away. "It is flour. The flour will be used to thicken your stew because we do not have meats with high fat content. If we did then the fat would thicken our stew up nicely, along with the starches from our potatoes." He waited then threw the flour and water in and put the lid on the pot and waited. "So, you said that you have decided." He crossed his arms, waiting. I nodded.

"Yeah," It was silent.

"Well…are you going to tell me or are you going to make me guess?" He replied sarcastically. I glared at him.

"You're a grumpy old bat when you wake up, aren't you?" He itched the scar on the side of his face again, looking off at the sky.

"I am actually in a good mood tonight, so you should savor it." He looked back at me. "What have you decided on?" I sighed. I was expecting a little more from him. Like excitement, or anger or something. But he was so emotionless. So…not…caring. He was like an emotional vampire…

"I uh…decided to become your assistant." I replied back. He blinked a couple times, a smile stretching across his face.

"Did you? You will not be able to see your family for a long time, and your friends. Are you sure you want to?" He quizzed. I nodded. Why was he asking me when I gave him my answer? "Alright, then I have one more test that we must go through in order for me to accept you completely." He pushed himself to his feet and took a couple steps away from the fire. "Follow me." Pushing myself to my feet I followed him, stopping when he stopped abruptly. He turned and faced me. Reaching forward he grabbed my hand and looked at me. "This will hurt only a little." He replied. Before I could question his actions he jammed his thumb nail into my palm. Yelping I ripped my arm away and snarled, looking at it as it welled up with blood.

"What the hell are you doing?" I shrieked, looking as the blood trickled down around my hand.

"I am testing your blood. This will be the last test before you become my assistant, now give me your hand." He held his hand out again.

"Why? So you can rip my fingers off next?" I hissed.

"Will you stop being a baby and give me your hand before I change my mind and send you home!" He snarled back. I hesitated. Groaning I held my hand out and looked away. Grabbing my wrist he leaned down and dragged his tongue over my palm.

"Ugh, it's gross." I muttered.

"Deal with it." He replied, his words muffled by my wrist. He started sucking on the wound, his tongue swirling around it. I stared at him, feeling my heart race a bit. I clicked my teeth wondering if he was testing me or feeding off of me. Then the tip of his tongue glided across the cut and a mixture of stinging and pleasure came from it. I gasped and ripped my hand away. He looked up at me confused, cocking an eyebrow. "The problem, Mr. Shan?"

"Why the hell are you making love to my hand!" I squeaked, looking down at it.

"I was not. Has your mother never told you to stop playing with your cuts or they will not heal?" He replied, standing up straight again.

"No," I replied, looking at him wondering if there was some sort of cool vampire trick behind that saying.

"Neither has mine, I did not learn of that saying until I was already blooded. You see, Darren, if you stimulate the wound it will not heal. Therefore you do not have to keep opening up the hole because the blood refuses to come out of it." He explained. I glared at him but he ignored it. "I was testing your blood do not get so testy, now, give me your hand again." I hesitated, looking at his open hand as he waited for me to show him mine again. Sighing I put my hand in his. Turning my palm around he spit into the palm of my hand and rubbed the spit in.

"That's gross." I groaned, looking away.

"Hush." He replied then wiped the spit off with the corner cloak. I looked down at it. The cut was healed, only a small scar rested in its place.

"Whoa," I marveled, looking at it. "It's…healed." I looked up at him again. Nodding he poke cuts into the tips of his fingers with his nails.

"Yes, vampire spit has healing properties. Hold your hands up." I looked at him confused and held my hands up, feeling a lot like a suction cup Garfield cat. He put up his hands and quickly jabbed his nails into the tips of my fingers. I yelped and looked at them as blood welled up. "Are you going to holler everytime something small hurts you?" he cocked an eyebrow, staring at me.

"Oh just shut up and do what you're going to do orange boy!" I hissed and snapped my hands out. Snickering he pushed his fingertips to mine. I felt fire run through my veins. It was a warm fire, not a burning sensation. Somehow, I felt up close and personal to him. Suddenly a sharp pain ruptured through my heart. I gasped and pulled away, grabbing at my chest.

"What was that?" I wheezed, shaking a bit.

"That was my blood reaching your heart. You are now a half vampire." He replied. I stared up at him horrified.

"Half vampire? I thought you said I was your assistant?" I shrieked.

"You are my assistant." He cocked an eyebrow then spit on his fingertips. "You did not honestly think I would allow a human to follow me around did you? You would be killed within months of being a human assistant. Besides, vampires do not take on human assistants for a good reason. They are too easy to lose, and too hard to replace. You are a half vampire so that you may benefit me. Do not worry though, you have access to day light and can still mingle amongst the humans. I will not deprive you of leaving your human world so quickly."

"But…what about someday returning home to my family! You promised me I could someday!" I cried.

"I promised no such thing. I said you would not be allowed to see your family for a long time. You can return and see them when they have forgiven the Gods of removing you from their life, but you must not interact with them. That is the way of a vampires assistant." He replied.

"You…you lying, conning, leech!" I lunged at him, my fist colliding with his cheek. He pulled back and glared at me.

"You will not strike at me!" he swung back. Digging his fist into my stomach I wretched and hit the ground, losing all of the food that was in my stomach. I could feel my lungs tear under the harsh pressure of his fist and my vision blurred as I slumped to my knees. "You agreed to offer! You accepted the terms! Do not blame me because you did not ask for further details of our contract! What is done is done and you must deal with your decision!" he stood over me and snarled. "And if you ever strike me again I promise every bone in your hand will be broken to the point where it will never heal again!" I cried as he growled, holding my stomach. Curling up I cradled myself pathetically and cried. It must have been a pitiful sight, especially to a vampire, but I couldn't control it. I was a vampire now, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

Suddenly a warm hand grasped my shoulder, a deep sigh came from his lips. "I did not know you were not planning to abandon that life all together," he whispered. His voice was deep, and smooth and calming. "I was too harsh on you, and I should not have struck you back. I understand you were only acting out of panic, but you must understand, that when communication is faulty mistakes are made. You are a child of the night now, and I promise, it will not be as bad as you believe it to be."

"Won't be as bad?" I snapped his hand away and shoved myself to my knees. "I'm a freak! Here I was thinking I'd just be your assistant for a few years and go home when I was tired of seeing the world, but no! You had to pump your putrid blood in me!" I snarled, then coughed, doubling over again. His arm stretch out. Wrapping around my upper body he pulled me around so my back was facing him and dragged me back so that I was practically sitting in his lap. His other hand went down, rubbing at the spot I clutched at.

"You are a cryptic boy Master Shan," he whispered, then chuckled lightly, shaking his head. "You are like him, only more ill-tempered." I squirmed to remove myself from his grasp, but part of me wanted to just lay there. It was a comforting gesture, one that made the pain subside quickly.

"Who?" I groaned, giving up when his grip proved to be unbreakable.

"Master Von." He replied, snorting.

"Who?" I looked up. He had a thoughtful smile on his face.

"Ah, Evra, the snake boy." He repeated. I grimaced at the thought and sighed, looking down.

"I'm a horrible person."

"What do you mean?" He looked down at me confused.

"I freaking killed him!" I threw my arms up. He laughed and shook his head, rolling his eyes.

"I think not. I doubt Hibernius would allow the young Von to die. Not to mention, he is too stubborn to let something small like poison bring him down." It was shocking to hear someone mention poison as something _small_, but none the less, I hoped he was right. I would hate to have a death on my conscience because I did something stupid like steal a spider. "How about breakfast and a toast to your awakening as a child of the night. Let us offer up a prayer to the Gods as well" he smiles slipping out from under me and standing up. I grimaced at him, glaring a bit.

"I don't need a prayer from no God's." I muttered. Grinning he chuckled lightly.

"I did not mean for you, I meant for me. I have a feeling I will need it." He turned his back on me and took a seat next to the fire.

"Hey!" I growled, standing and followed him. So that was officially it? The end of my human life…who knew what it'd get me into.


End file.
